


they were Hydra (and it hurt all the worse)

by orphan_account



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst?, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Unresolved Tension, a lot of blood, endgame steve/bucky, eventual resolved tension, sorry about that, to some extent sure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-01-24 13:27:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 44,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1606784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Steve waited, half hoping there would be another message, some reassurance that he could handle the Winter Soldier and Hydra, and half knowing that he could handle this on his own.  Without any of the other Avengers or SHIELD as a crutch, he was back to where he had been seventy years ago: behind enemy lines with a half baked plan on how to rescue his best friend from an overzealous organization that should never have existed, and with no way to call in backup."</p><p>When Steve and Natasha encounter a Hydra agent with an alarming likeness to Bucky, Steve can't bring himself to leave her to die, and Natasha can't bring herself to support him in saving her.  With this strange reminder of his best friend as a risky ally, Steve sets out to find the Winter Soldier, and bring Bucky back.</p><p>Set after the events of Marvel's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs.  
> Will update sporadically, so I apologize in advance for that.  
> I also can't write angst, at least not for long, so I can assure you this will be plenty "disgustingly cute".

She was Hydra, he knew that, but he couldn't bring himself to bring the shield down on her head.  Her clear blue eyes clouded as she stared up at him, her consciousness draining away with the blood from the bullet in her stomach, courtesy of Natasha.  A pale hand reached up to him, grasping at his uniform and Steve was reminded painfully and suddenly of those same blue eyes glued to his face as they fell from a mountain, seventy years ago.  The girl in front of him became Bucky, reaching out as he tried to stop himself from falling, and this time Steve grabbed his hand and held tight.

O.O

“You saved the life of a known Hydra agent.” Natasha accused.  Steve groaned, rubbing a hand across his face tiredly.

“I know that Nat.  I couldn't do it.” He paused, looking down at his hands and then over at the Hydra agent sleeping in the hospital bed.  “Her eyes Nat, she looks too much like him.  She has his hair, his face, his eyes.  I couldn't do it.”  Natasha crossed her arms, leaning against the wall closest to the door and settling Steve with a careful, calculating gaze.

“You loved him, and you lost him, and then he was back but inexplicably changed.  You can’t be blamed for finding him in the enemy’s eyes.” Natasha watched Steve as he watched the girl sleep.  Her dark brown curls were knotted and filled with ashes and plaster dust from the burning building she had been shot atop of.  Burns on her arms and neck healed slowly under layers of clean bandages, and beneath her hospital gown the bullet hole in her stomach had been sewn closed hastily by the trauma doctor, and it would leave a nasty scar.

“We need to leave before she wakes up.” Natasha stood up and stretched, zipping up her jacket and settling the hood to hide her face.

“I can’t do that Nat.” Steve watched the Hydra agent as she mumbled in her sleep, reaching out and grabbing Steve’s hand.  “She’s going to lead me to Bucky.  I can feel it.”

“You let her live, and I let that mistake go, we have done enough.  It’s time to go.”

“She needs me.”

“She needs another bullet in her side.” Steve glared at the assassin and Natasha glared back, her fingers twitching towards the gun she had hidden in her waistband.

“Don’t.”

“She’s not him Steve.  Wishing she was Bucky is not going to make her Bucky.  She’s Hydra, and she will kill us given the chance.  We kill her now or we leave.”

“Then leave.” The pair stared at each other over the sleeping body of the Hydra agent and without another word Natasha left.  Steve settled back in the chair next to the hospital bed, letting the sleeping agent grip his hand tightly, and allowed his guard down to doze lightly.

O.O

                When Steve woke up, the girl was still sleeping soundly, but the sun had risen outside the windows and Steve had to force himself to calm down.  The girl looked more like Bucky than ever, the sun bringing into focus the dark copper strands in her dark brown curls.  A smattering of freckles across her cheeks and nose a slight contrast to the Bucky he’d known, but the rest of her face was his.  A gentler jaw than his had been, the same ears, and a slighter version of his nose.  Steve knew that the moment she opened her eyes he would be lost.  He knew that once those clear blue eyes caught his he would see only Bucky, begging for his help, and would be unable to resist.  The girl shifted in the bed, groaning in pain as she turned away from Steve and opened her eyes.  She shot up in bed and quickly doubled over in pain, letting out a short gasp and clutching the barely-healed hole in her stomach.

“Whoa stay still!” Steve got up from the chair and the girl turned to him, panic in her eyes as she flicked her tongue in her mouth.  She paled quickly.  Steve held up a small white pill.

“Looking for this?” The girl backed up as far as she could, Bucky’s eyes wild in her face as she quickly studied Steve.  “Seventy years and Hydra’s still crunching cyanide tablets?  Uninspired, truly uninspired.  I’m almost disappointed.”  She seemed to calm down as she continued to study Steve, and when she opened her mouth to speak, it was with a light German accent.

“I know your face.  I was told to trust you.”  Steve studied the familiar blue eyes, eyes that had softened the way Bucky’s used to when he saw Steve after a long period apart.

“Who told you to trust me?” She frowned, as if thinking on the correct answer.

“I think he was my father.” Steve stiffened, which did not escape the girl’s notice.

“What was your father’s name?”

“I do not know.  It was not necessary.”

“What’s your name?”

“Laurel.”

“Do you not have a last name?”

“He didn’t tell me to trust you that much.” Steve and Laurel stared at each other, testing the other’s resolve, before Laurel finally broke with a grin.  “I’m only joking.  I would tell you if I knew.  I’m lucky I know my own first name as it is, I’ve been called Frost too long.”

“Frost?”

“I do not know why.” Steve picked up his phone and sent Natasha a quick text- _She’s awake.  Find everything you can about ‘Frost’ in Hydra._

“Do you think you could describe your father for me?  If we can identify him, it might be easier to figure out who you are.”

“I know who I am.  I am Laurel, or Frost, and I am supposed to kill you, but I was told to trust you by someone who is likely my father.” She stopped, as if realizing just how little she truly knew.  “Maybe I do not know as much as I should.”  She laid back and a nurse came by to check up on her, she was healing rapidly, and Steve couldn’t help but think that she had a similar healing rate to him.  They sat silently in the room for the rest of the day, Laurel sleeping and waking for short moments while Steve texted Natasha, slowly learning more about the Hydra asset called Frost.

_N: I leaked pictures of her online, there’s a community of conspiracy theorists who say she is sent ahead of the Winter Soldier, a warning of sorts, and that if you see her, he is never far behind._

_S: What about official records of her?_

_N: Mostly wiped, though I've found the occasional mention of her in other files.  Mostly under ‘cause of death’.  You should leave her, she’s caused enough trouble._

_S: You know why I can’t leave._

_N: It’s a ridiculous reason.  We need to hunt him together._

_S: You said that where she is, he’s never far behind.  This may work out better than we had thought._

_N: You should have left her._

                Steve let out an aggravated breath, pinching the bridge of his nose hard enough to bruise.  He knew she could understand if she wanted to.  During the invasion of New York, had she not held out the hope that Clint was still buried under Loki’s control?  Now when Steve had the same faith that Bucky still breathed inside the Winter Soldier, Natasha saw him only as a rival assassin to be dealt with.  Steve would take any lead he could get, and right now, this girl with an uncanny likeness to Bucky and a legend of announcing the Winter Soldier’s arrival was not only the only lead, but an incredibly good one.  He glanced over at her sleeping form, tense beneath the thin hospital sheets.  She mumbled in German, her brow furrowed and hands clenched tightly in the sheets.  He looked back to his phone.

_S: She’s the best lead we have, I’m staying with her._

_N: I’m collecting C from Portugal.  Don’t expect to hear from me for a while._

                Steve stared at the message for a long moment, caught between fierce anger at Natasha’s cold refusal to help and the slowly building apprehension about being left alone to deal with Laurel and possibly a heavily brainwashed Bucky.  A small message bubble appeared, ellipses blinking as Natasha typed out another message.

_N: Good luck._

                Steve waited, half hoping there would be another message, some reassurance that he could handle the Winter Soldier and Hydra, and half knowing that he could handle this on his own.  Without any of the other Avengers or SHIELD as a crutch, he was back to where he had been seventy years ago: behind enemy lines with a half baked plan on how to rescue his best friend from an overzealous organization that should never have existed, and with no way to call in backup.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs

The next day the doctor pronounced Laurel well enough to be discharged, although he couldn’t make sense of the rapid healing of her burns and gunshot wound.  As predicted, the gunshot had left a nasty scar an inch above and two inches to the left of her bellybutton, scar tissue twisting in a ragged circle.  The burns had healed to shiny, new skin, and the doctor assured them that they would not scar so badly as the gunshot wound, but there was always the possibility of small scarring.  Steve took Laurel to a hotel in the city, packing them away from the rest of the world so they could work on finding the Winter Soldier.

“I don’t understand why you need me.  I have a job to do.” Laurel protested on their third night in the hotel.  She was eating pizza in her bed, flipping through page after page of notes Steve had managed to dig up on the subject of the Winter Soldier and resolutely pretending that the job she was supposed to be doing didn’t involve killing the man three feet from her.

“Legend in the intelligence business says that he’s never far behind you.  You’re like a beacon to him, where you go, he finds his missions.” Steve had been relieved that she had agreed without much argument to stay with him for a bit, resting in the hotel instead of slipping back to Hydra.  The advantage was in the fact that Hydra would think her dead, knowing that she was on the roof of their burning headquarters, cornered by Captain America and Black Widow when they lost track of her.  He too had learned to pretend this job she was ignoring was something simple and pedestrian, like not showing up for a shift at the local diner instead of not shooting him.

“I don’t remember being followed by him, I only remember going where Hydra told me to.  I scoped out their targets.”

“Likely before they deployed the Winter Soldier to kill them.” Laurel seemed to think the idea over for a moment before shrugging and taking another bite of her pizza.  He couldn’t understand why she stayed, why she didn’t go running back to Hydra and why she was willing to help him.  Whoever told her to trust him, she must trust him implicitly.

“That would make sense, why they always wanted me to scope out targets but never kill them.” She went back to her pizza, and Steve watched her carefully, ready to gauge her reaction.

“Natasha found record of your kills.” Laurel set her pizza down and turned to face Steve.

“I had other jobs than being followed around by Winter.”  She was silent for the rest of the night, ignoring Steve’s attempts to draw her back into conversation.  Around eleven she slipped out onto the balcony.  At one Steve finally crawled into bed.  At quarter past two Laurel finally came back inside and curled up in her bed and Steve finally allowed himself to drop off to sleep once Laurel’s breathing slowed at half past two.

                The next day was more of the same.  Steve dug through Hydra and SHIELD files, closely examining anything that looked to do with the Winter Soldier or Frost.  He found Frost’s official kill list, but after a quick glance over to the girl curled up in the hotel chair with her eyes glued to the tv, he decided not to mention it.  He scrolled through the list carefully, looking up the person associated with every name, and realized that they weren’t all recent.  With a sigh, Steve realized he would need to talk about it.

“Laurel.” She turned from the tv, staring at the Captain.  He took that as a sign to continue.  “I found your official Hydra kill list.”

“Congratulations.” She deadpanned, turning back to the tv.

“We need to talk about this.” She turned back to him, watery blue eyes clearly bored as she waited for him to explain.  Steve took a deep breath before meeting those eyes.  “Your kill list extends to the past fifty years.”

“So?” She watched him suspiciously, and Steve was overly conscious of the way her fingers minutely twitched towards his shield, propped up against the nightstand of his bed.

“So you can’t be older than twenty-five.”

“Maybe consciously.” Steve took a deep breath, knowing what was likely coming.

“So you were born when exactly?”

“Nineteen forty-two.” Steve rose from his chair, beginning to pace angrily around the room.

“And you didn’t think this was important information?”

“Not really.  You were born in nineteen eighteen.”

“Yes but I’m not a Hydra assassin!  When did you grow up?”

“The forties, watching newsreels about your star studded ass from a broken Germany.” Laurel snapped from her position in the chair.  Steve sat down on the end of his bed, head in his hands.

“When did they freeze you?”

“Not sure.” She paused, as if realizing that she actually had an idea of who she was.  “You said my kill list dates back to the sixties?  I must’ve started with Hydra in my twenties, maybe even my teens, and been frozen later and occasionally brought back for a kill.”

“It’s likely they brought you back at the same time they brought the Winter Soldier back.  Legend says your appearance was a sort of beacon to him, he would kill those who saw you.”

“More of a scout than an assassin I guess.”

“You’ve killed plenty.”

“More of a scout, not only.” She settled back into her chair, attention slipping away from Steve but he was getting tired of sitting in this hotel room trying to find Bucky.  He crossed the room and stood in front of the tv, staring at Laurel.

“We need to move.”

“You need to move, you’re blocking the tv.” Steve sighed and continued his slight glower.

“You need to be spotted, preferably by someone with reason to believe Hydra would want him dead.  Someone who would raise the alarm.” Laurel looked up at Steve.

“You want me to trick the Winter Soldier into thinking I have a target for him?”

“Yes.” Laurel shook her head, tapping one finger against the back of her neck.

“Hydra thinks I’m dead.  If the alarm goes up and they suspect I’m alive, my chip goes active.” Laurel said it calmly, as if it was something normal, but Steve stared at her in confusion.

“A chip?”

“Yeah a chip.  GPS chip in the back of my neck, latched to my spinal cord so I can’t dig it out.  It’s how Hydra keeps track of their assets.  Winter Soldier probably has one too.”  She pulled her hair over her shoulder, turning so Steve could examine the small bump at the base of her neck.  “If it starts blinking, then we’re in trouble.  Blinking means it’s on and they’re tracking.”

“How long have you been awake?” Steve asked, carefully feeling around the tiny chip, which certainly appeared to be attached to her spinal cord.

“Long enough to assimilate to this era.  I don’t get memory wipes between activation periods, so it’s a bit weird.  But there are still gaps, but I think those are normal.  I didn’t know my father as a child, so I don’t know him now.  I had a last name, but it was taken from me, probably the one thing that Hydra washed out of me.”

“Do you think we could hack into Hydra’s GPS track of the Winter Soldier?” Laurel turned around and grinned.

“Probably.  But first I want to know why you trust me.  I’m Hydra, tasked to kill you, yet you let me sleep three feet from you, you leave your guard down more than you should.  I don’t get it.” Steve sighed and sat on his bed, these talks with Laurel were draining him emotionally.  He watched her for a moment before responding, the way she leaned against the back of her chair, turned to face him.  Her familiar eyes searching his face for an answer, and the way she tucked her legs up under her, minimizing her impact on the room around her.

“You remind me of someone I lost.”

“Did you love her?” _Him_ Steve corrected to himself.

“More than I should have.” Laurel stood from the chair, crossing to Steve and sitting down next to him on the bed.

“Everyone makes those mistakes Steve.” _Some of us fall for the enemy._ Laurel continued to herself.  Steve watched the agent, calm and relaxed as she sat next to him.  He couldn’t stop staring at those eyes, the exact eyes he wanted to see.  She had to be some sort of weapon created specifically to bring him down, Hydra must’ve known about Bucky and created a new kind of weapon from that information.  She didn’t speak, letting Steve drown himself eagerly in her image.  Warm hands gripped her face and hot lips pressed over her own as the super soldier pressed against her.  Laurel kissed him back after a moment, letting his burning tongue into her mouth, teeth scraping against lips as Steve pulled her onto his lap.  Laurel wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him push her down onto the bed.  He bit urgently at her bottom lip, drawing desperate moans from the agent.  When he opened his eyes, Bucky had taken the place of Laurel, dark eyes encouraging him as he pushed under the plain grey tee, fingers pressing against the healed bullet wound as anger rose inside him at the thought of someone shooting Bucky.

                For her part, Laurel was quiet, allowing herself only small gasps of pain or wanting, and Steve heard only the needy voice of the man he had lost.  Digging at the back of her mind, past the utter dominance Steve had on her thoughts, the name “Bucky” that he occasionally whined pulled on her memory, something that was locked away from her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs

It was the light that finally woke him up and made him realize that this wasn’t Bucky tucked up against him.  This was a Hydra agent, one with an unsettling likeness to Bucky, but not the man he searched for.  Laurel was curled up against his chest, her back pressed against him, and on the back of her neck a small red light was flashing slowly.

“Shit.” He jumped out of bed, pulling on his clothes and hitting the bed insistently with his foot.  “Get up Laurel.  Your chip’s blinking.” He wondered how long it had been active as he geared up and Laurel roused herself, pulling on her own clothes and the weapons belt and gun holsters Steve had acquired for her.

“How long?”

“I don’t know, I couldn’t exactly see it earlier.” Laurel nodded in understanding and finished lacing her boots, tying them tightly and slipping a knife into the hidden pocket in each.

“They must’ve reactivated it after they didn’t find my body with the debris.  I’m surprised it took them this long.” She tied her hair up in a tight bun and Steve glanced over at the back of her neck.

“It stopped blinking.” Laurel froze, straightening slowly and carefully turning to face Steve.

“Don’t move.” Steve froze.

“What does it mean?”

“Down!” Laurel shouted, diving for the floor as a grenade broke the window.  Steve pulled her under his shield and the force of the blast pushed them through to the floor below.  Laurel began sprinting down the hall, Steve on her heels.  They rounded the corner and dove down the stairs as a stream of bullets came crashing through the window, missing Steve’s head by a fraction of a centimeter.  A splatter of blood hit the wall next to them and Laurel fell down the stairs, slamming against the cement steps and pulling herself to a stop just in time to watch as Steve simply jumped the railing and let himself fall down to her level, bracing as he slammed into the ground.  He picked Laurel up, pulling her along as she pressed down on the hole ripped through the side of her stomach.

                Laurel pulled Steve into a maintenance closet at the base of the emergency staircase, putting a hand over her own mouth to muffle the sound of her pained breathing.  Steve curled around her, his back facing the door to shield her from anything coming through the door.  Laurel stood in one corner of the closet, her back pressed against the wall and her face pressed to Steve’s chest as she tried to keep quiet, biting her lip against the pain of the bullet buried under her skin.  Laurel reached around Steve to grab a roll of paper towels and folded up a thick stack to press against the entrance wound.  Steve gripped her waist, holding her against him as she began to shake from the blood loss, and searched for the bullet's exit wound.  There wasn't one, and Steve swore under his breath.  The closet was tiny, especially with two people crammed in there, made worse by the fact that one of them was a genetically modified soldier.  They listened, forcing themselves into absolute silence as they strained to hear whoever it was who was coming after them.  Heavy boots on the stairs, whoever it was obviously didn’t care that they knew they were coming, and Laurel and Steve waited anxiously as the boots echoed in the bare stairwell.  They stopped in front of the maintenance closet, and Laurel felt every muscle in Steve tense.  After a long minute, the boots passed on.

                They waited as long as they could, really only a few extra seconds, until Steve couldn’t stand the pain in Bucky’s - _Laurel’s-_ eyes anymore and cautiously pushed the door open to the empty stairwell.  Laurel made a move to limp out after Steve, but the super soldier picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and headed out the back emergency exit.  The low light of the beginning of sunrise helped Steve and Laurel to stay in the shadows as Steve carried her swiftly through town. 

                Outside of the town, Steve found an empty house and carefully picked the lock on the kitchen door, and Laurel muttered something about the ‘unfortunate corruption of America’ before she passed out from the pain.  As Steve scrambled for a first aid kit, glancing nervously over at the growing puddle of blood under Laurel now that the pressure was gone from the wound, he knew he had waited too long.  Glassy blue eyes fixed on his as he poured alcohol on the wound, drawing no reaction from the dying Hydra agent.  He hated his own selfishness in that moment, how he saw only Bucky’s life draining away from the girl on the floor, instead of the young agent who was really dying. 

                With an astonishing crack, the kitchen door split open and Steve jumped up, reaching for his shield.  The Winter Soldier stood framed in the doorway, the barrel of his gun just visible over his shoulder.  His hands were empty and he stared at Steve with the same blue eyes that were losing their light on the floor.  He glanced down at the girl and roughly pushed Steve out of the way, digging his metal fingers into the bullet wound.

“Hey!” Steve shouted, starting forward to stop him.  Bucky – _The Winter Soldier-_ growled at him and continued to dig at the wound, pulling the bullet from her stomach and barking at Steve to find a needle and thread while pressing down hard on the wound.  Steve ran off, hoping that whoever lived here kept a needle and thread around, and when he returned Laurel was clutching at the Winter Soldier’s face with a bloody hand, raking her hand through his hair and leaving the dark strands matted with blood.  She was grinning, blood bubbling from her lips, and spouting what sounded like nonsense in German.  The Winter Soldier snatched the needle and thread from Steve and got to work sterilizing the needle.

“Turn on the stove.” Steve didn’t ask as the Winter Soldier held Laurel together, who was still muttering in German, and occasionally he replied in Russian.

“Vater, Vater, ich sterbe, ich sterbe, hilfe.”

“моя девушка, я постараюсь” That seemed to settle her a bit as the Winter Soldier reached up to the stove and held his left hand over the burner’s flame.  They waited as the metal of his hand began to glow with heat, and as soon as he had determined it was hot enough he used his hand to cauterize the wound.  Laurel held in her scream, biting through her lip and tasting the blood that burst into her mouth.  She began to shake and Steve grabbed one of the kitchen towels and rolled it up, placing it in her mouth so she wouldn’t bite off her tongue as she convulsed.

                It was over in seconds, and the Hydra agent slumped against the wall, finally completely unconscious from the pain.  Steve pressed two fingers to the inside of her wrist; her pulse was there, but too weak for comfort.  He didn’t dare to move as the Winter Soldier crudely stitched up the hole in her side.  When he was finished, the Winter Soldier stood slowly and began to clean up the mess.  There was blood in coagulating pools on the floor and streaks of the shocking red where Laurel had scraped her hands on the floor.  The floor was littered with bloody paper towels and the hand towel in Laurel’s mouth had a growing red stain from her bitten lip.  Steve stayed frozen on the floor, feeling Laurel’s heartbeat beneath his fingers as the Winter Soldier scrubbed the floor with bleach from under the sink. 

                Steve knew that he was covered in blood from carrying her, but couldn’t bring himself to clean it off.  After everything in the last ten hours, the Winter Soldier casually cleaning up the bloodbath of this random kitchen caused him the most concern.  He’d been hunting him for weeks when he met Laurel, and hunting him with Laurel after that.  Steve didn’t understand why the Winter Soldier had followed them here and saved Laurel’s life if he was the one that took the shot in the first place.  But then, the Winter Soldier didn’t just open fire like their assailant at the hotel did.  The Winter Soldier was an assassin, not a common lackey, and would’ve taken one shot and definitely not missed.  Whoever had tried to kill them didn’t seem to know that the Winter Soldier was tracking them too.

“ Vater…” Laurel muttered, fingers twitching around someone who wasn’t there.  The Winter Soldier paused to reply.

“Я здесь” Laurel shifted the fingers of her right hand around Steve’s fingers that wrested on her left wrist and curled around that small part of him.  She slept on.

                The Winter Soldier finally finished cleaning up the blood, and stopped to stare at Steve.

“I know you.” Steve nodded.

“We’ve met before.”

“I tried to kill you.” It wasn’t a question, but Steve nodded in affirmation anyway.

“You tried to kill us.”

“Wasn’t me.” The Winter Soldier corrected.  He crouched down next to Laurel and tucked one of countless stray strands of hair behind her ear before continuing.  “Her employers and your enemies.”

“Hydra.” Steve bit through his teeth.  The name left a bitter taste in his mouth, like swallowing a particularly nasty pill dry.  The Winter Soldier nodded.

“Burn the heads.”  The gruff voice commanded.  Steve looked up and he was gone.  The only evidence of his existence was the shallow breathing of the girl on the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (aside from the plot and my OCs) as per usual

                Steve didn’t want to move her so soon after the Winter Soldier had saved Laurel, but he knew they had to get moving if they didn’t want the homeowners to come home and find them.  He checked the chip again, it wasn’t blinking, and hoped that meant Hydra had stopped tracking her.  Laurel was slumped over his shoulder as he carried her out of the house, ducking down small roads and through alleyways to keep out of sight.  Laurel woke up as Steve ducked into a back alley and flattened himself against a wall, taking a moment to breathe deeply.

“What happened?” Laurel muttered against Steve’s back, looking around at the dirty alleyway.

“Hydra sent someone to kill you, the Winter Soldier showed up and saved you from your bullet wound.”

“Put me down.” Steve set her down carefully, and Laurel stood in the middle of the alleyway.  She braced herself as she pulled up the hem of her blood-soaked tee shirt and stared down at the burnt and ragged newly-healed flesh.  She touched the raw skin carefully and looked up at Steve with a crooked grin.  “I’ve got a matched set now.  One from SHIELD and one from Hydra.”  Steve looked at the scars, set apart by three inches of smooth, pale skin in sharp contrast to the twisted and red skin of her scars.  She looked back to her stomach, tracing the scar tissue with one finger absently.  “Why did he leave?”

“Hyrda’s after him too Laurel.  He couldn’t stay.”

“He told me to trust you.  After SHIELD fell and he fled, Hydra sent me to find him and bring him back.  He found me, told me to trust you and that you’d help, and then he disappeared.  I was trying to find you when Black Widow shot me.”

“I’d never think I would be happy she missed.” Laurel looked up at Steve, frowning.

“I’m a Hydra agent, and you’re happy I’m alive?” She let her tee shirt fall back down and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back against the alley wall.  “I don’t think I can understand that.”

“Hydra used you, tried to kill you, and betrayed every trust you had in them.  You can’t still be loyal?”

“I’m loyal to the Winter Soldier and to myself.”  Steve relaxed, the tension leaving his body as he slumped against the wall.  Laurel grinned.  “You were worried I’d go back to Hydra weren’t you?”

“A bit.”  They were silent for a long moment, simply breathing in the muggy morning air.

“Think I could wear your jacket Cap?  I’m covered in blood and don’t really want to advertise that.” Steve nodded and shrugged out of his jacket, passing it over to Laurel.  She pulled off the blood soaked tee and zipped herself into Steve’s too-big jacket.  The dried blood on the shoulder from where he had carried her was thankfully less noticeable than her ruined tee.  A police cruiser shot by the entrance to the alleyway and Steve and Laurel flattened themselves against the walls.

“We need to get out of here.  They’re going to find our hotel room, and your blood all over the hallways.” Laurel nodded, standing up properly and examining the walls on either side of them.  There was a broken fire escape, the bottom stair hanging down four feet above Steve’s head.

“Toss me up Cap.” Steve braced himself and Laurel jumped, he pushed her up and she grabbed the fire escape, pulling herself up neatly.  A hand shot down, and Steve reached up to grab it, wondering if Laurel could pull him up even as she did.  He pushed away thoughts of Bucky reaching up for him the way he was reaching up for Laurel.

“You’re a lot heavier than you look Cap.”

“I think the serum made me denser.”

“Winter too, but that may just be his new arm.” She grinned to herself, like remembering an old joke, and continued to climb the fire escape.  Steve followed, distractedly wondering where Bucky had run off to, and how to get him back.

O.O

_N: Back on the mainland.  In possession of C.  B4.  ETA 3700._

                Steve stared down at the text from Natasha.  He needed her help with this, but didn’t want to deal with her grudge against Laurel.  He looked over to Laurel, who was standing on the other side of the café, charming one of the other customers so he wouldn’t notice as she stole his wallet.  He looked back to the text, Natasha had Clint with her, and they weren’t that far from the base Natasha was talking about.  They could be there first, get settled, and at least not walk straight into whatever trap Natasha would inevitably set for them.  He turned off the phone and waited for Laurel to slip out the front of the shop before following.  He walked two blocks and turned down a side street.  Laurel grabbed him and pulled him along, talking quickly.

“Before you get all high and mighty Captain America on me, remember that we are being hunted by a leftover Nazi intelligence organization and they have spent seventy years using your best friend as an assassin and they’ve done something similar to me.”

“I was going to tell you that Natasha is back and wants to meet us.  She’s a little over a day out, but we’re only a few hours away.”

“I don’t think she’d appreciate you bringing a Hydra agent to whatever top secret location she has in mind.”

“She can deal with that.” Laurel raised an eyebrow in question and Steve shrugged.  “Well she’ll have to at least.”

O.O

                It didn’t take them long to find the base.  Buried deep in the forests of Vermont, literally underground, they knew they were in the right spot when a hidden machine gun began shooting at them.  Steve deflected the bullets with his shield, and shouted to an unseen camera that he was Captain America dammit, and they would open the doors for him.  A thick tree behind them slid open, revealing a tiny, cylindrical elevator.  They squeezed in and soon found themselves in a spacious room, doors all around the walls.

“Pick one I guess?” Laurel asked, stepping out of the elevator and walking around the perimeter, inspecting the doors.  “They’re identical, so I think they assume you should know which one you need to open.”  Steve pushed Laurel behind him and held the shield up, facing the first door.  He reached out and threw it open, bracing for an attack.  It swung open on a room filled with computers and the receiving end of the surveillance equipment that had tried to shoot them outside.

“My hero, protecting me from those scary computers.”

“Shut it.” Laurel grinned and happily crossed into the room, examining the screens that showed the outside entrance and its clearing from all angles.  Steve waited in the entryway as Laurel began opening doors at random.  Kitchen, bedrooms, meeting rooms, bathrooms, even a rec room.  It was practically an underground house, aside from the weapons room Laurel found off of the rec room and the surveillance equipment in every corner.

“It’s a little creepy.  I feel like SHIELD is watching every move we make.”

“Someone is, but it’s not SHIELD.” Steve corrected, walking through one of the bedrooms while Laurel inspected the weapons closet hidden in the back of the actual closet.

“I thought this was a hidden SHIELD base?”

“It’s one of Fury’s hidden bases.  SHIELD doesn’t know about them, so they’re the only real safe places left.”  Laurel sat down on the bed, looking around at the cameras hidden on the ceiling.

“I’ll set up camp in here Cap, if that’s okay.” Steve nodded, stepping back into the hall.

“I’ll be next door.”

O.O

                It’s faint through the walls of the underground base, but it’s still there.  Screaming, loud, panicked screaming.  Steve jumps awake and bursts into the hall, scrambling to find the source.  Laurel’s door is closed, but it’s loudest just in front of it.  He throws open the door.  Laurel is tangled in the sweat-soaked sheets, screaming and thrashing, her screams rising in volume the longer they go on.  Angry German occasionally cuts through the panicked screams and Steve winces as he steps into the room.  He sits down on the bed, pulling Laurel into his arms.

“Laurel, you’re okay.  You’re okay Laurel.  It’s Steve, I’m here, you’re safe.”

                She shakes and shudders in his arms, screams quieting to scared whimpers as she curls instinctively around Steve’s middle.  She settles back down, wrapped tightly around Steve.  He settles himself down and runs careful fingers through her hair as she nuzzles into his stomach.

“Vater hilfe…” She mutters as she slips back into sleep.  Steve keeps a hold on her as she sleeps, wishing he knew what to do with her, this girl who only remembers certain kills and half her name, who can’t remember what city she grew up in but knows what the Winter Soldier was doing forty three years ago to the day, the girl who screams in German in her sleep and sits quietly in her waking hours.  Steve presses his nose into her damp curls and allows himself to sleep with the thought of Bucky in his arms and safe again.

                When they wake up, Laurel looks embarrassed to have clung so tightly to Steve in the night, and Steve is even more embarrassed to have held to her just as tightly.  Neither will admit aloud to who they’re really missing, and they don’t talk about it.

“We should see if there’s any food in the kitchen beside MREs.” Laurel got out of bed and disappeared into the kitchen, allowing Steve the dignity to collect himself before joining her.  He appreciated the gesture, and sat for a long moment, taking deep breaths and pushing away his thoughts of Bucky that Laurel’s eyes summoned.

“It’s all MREs, I’m heading out, I can’t eat this stuff.” Laurel announced when she walked back into the room.  She threw open the closet and dug through the clothes, pulling on an oversized grey hoodie and a pair of tight jeans.  Whoever had stocked the closet had stocked it for a smaller body type and the denim pulled on Laurel’s wide hips.

“I think there was a stash of bills in one of the surveillance rooms.  I’m going into town.” Steve stood up from the bed but Laurel waved a hand for him to sit back down.  “Go back to bed Cap, you’re too recognizable.” She grabbed a pair of boots from the closet, a wad of bills from the surveillance room, and left.  Steve lay back on the bed, staring up at the low, white ceiling, and letting himself fall into memories of the Brooklyn he had known seventy years earlier.  It hurt too much he realized, since waking up in the 21st century it had always been painful to think of Brooklyn cause Brooklyn meant Bucky, but it was somehow worse now, knowing that he was alive and hurting somewhere Steve couldn’t find him to help him no matter how hard he tried.

                He took to pacing the bunker, running through everything they had dug up about the Winter Soldier.  They knew he used to be Bucky, _my Bucky,_ and had spent the last seventy years being used by Hydra as an assassin, retaining no memories in between assignments.  He knew that just before the fall of SHIELD and the rise of Hydra, Bucky had been reactivated and assigned to kill him.  He knew he had broken away from Hydra’s control, and was at least watching out for Laurel.  There was a television in the rec room, and Steve turned it on, quickly finding a news station.  Months after the fact, they were still talking about the massive information leak from SHIELD and the agency’s fall.  One channel was playing a Cold War documentary, and Steve decided he might as well, settling down onto the couch and turning the volume up.  After an hour he remembered that Laurel didn’t have clearance for the bunker so he would need to watch the system and disable it when it tried to shoot her.  Reluctantly, he stood from the couch and walked to the surveillance room.  He occupied himself with studying the area around them through the extensive security monitors.  After an hour of waiting he fell asleep.

                Steve woke suddenly to a lazily blinking red light on one of the monitors and a low alarm.  He squinted at the screen, Laurel was back, picking her way through the forest with two grocery bags in each hand and a cigarette hanging from between her lips.  He turned away, trying to find the button to disable the system, heard the monitor announce ‘firing on intruder’ and turned to the screen in time to see Laurel drop the bags and slip behind a tree.  Something fell from where she was hidden, and Steve found the button.  He pressed the intercom.

“It’s disabled now Laurel, come on in.”  On the screen she took a cautious step from behind the tree, picked up the bags, and quickly disappeared into the small elevator.  Steve met her in the lobby, and had to suppress a laugh at her expression.  She had leaves and small twigs in her hair, a heavyset frown on her face, and the ragged butt of a cigarette between her teeth.  A clear echo of the friend he had lost.  With a frustrated grunt, she took the butt in her fingers and glared at it, as if it was the reason she had been shot at.

“Damn thing practically shot the cigarette right out of my mouth.” Steve realized what small thing had fallen from behind the tree after the system shot at her.  He took the bags from her and disappeared into the kitchen while she lit another cigarette and stood in the lobby smoking it.  When Steve glanced out to her, he had to turn away quickly.  She smoked her cigarettes exactly the way Bucky had, long drags from a cigarette held with just enough force that it didn’t fall from the two fingers that held it.  When she left the room, she left it dangling between her lips, taking lazy drags as she walked.  Steve turned back to the groceries, making a mental list of the things she had bought.  Fresh fruit and vegetables, finally, milk, canned soups and vegetables, better than MREs at least, two boxes of spaghetti, a few cartons of her cigarettes, emergency medical supplies, two way radios, batteries, a three pack of generic white tees for him and another pack for her, a few disposable lighters, and the local newspaper.  He gratefully pulled on one of the white tee shirts and put the rest of the supplies away.  From the rec room he could hear the low hum of the television and the occasional outburst from whatever show Laurel had settled on.  Steve turned back to the cupboard and set out to make their first real meal in two weeks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (aside from the plot and my OCs) as per usual

                The lobby was dimly lit in the early morning when Natasha arrived with not just Clint, but also Sam in tow.  Steve was wrapped around Laurel, having woken again to her screams, and didn’t hear them come in.  Clint leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and body tense like a windup toy wound much too tightly.  Sam stood just outside the door, practically oozing exhaustion and eyeing the open door to Steve’s room with longing.  Natasha stood at the foot of the bed, lightly tapping a foot against the floor and checking that her taser was on and ready.  She nudged Steve’s foot with hers, and he woke up slowly, tightening around Laurel and waking her up.  She caught sight of Natasha and tumbled from Steve’s grip, falling to the floor and pulling herself into a defensive stance.

“I’m not here to hurt you unless you do something to hurt us.” Natasha stated calmly.  Steve stood up, blocking Natasha from a straight shot at Laurel, and waited.  After a tense minute, Sam broke the silence.

“Nice to see you and your lady friend Steve, but I’m going to bed.” He disappeared into one of the empty bedrooms and Clint detached himself from the doorframe.

“You need to tell us what happened between finding her and this.” The archer’s tone left no room for argument, and Steve motioned for them to step out into the commons.  Laurel pulled on Steve’s jacket, hunkering down into the blood-stained material as if it could shield her from whatever judgment Natasha passed, and followed the group into the lobby and then into the rec room.  No one sat, and Laurel could feel the power play begin between Steve and Natasha.  She broke the silence, deciding that the first person to talk could easily take the advantage.

“I’m not trying to do anything, just looking for the Winter Soldier, same as you.”

“You’re Hydra, and Steve saved you.  That should be enough.” Natasha stared her down, light eyes darkening with her suspicion and distrust.

“Nat, Steve made a different call…” Surprisingly, Clint seemed ready to defend Steve’s choice to save her.

“I don’t care.” The redhead replied evenly.

“I care.  Clint saved you, and I saved Laurel.  Let me have this Nat.  She’s been helping me find him.” Steve argued.  Natasha sized him up, more to show she would fight him if she needed to than to actually assess his strengths, they’d worked together long enough to know the other’s weakness.  Steve’s eyes darted to Clint and Natasha’s lighted on Laurel before the pair looked back to each other, warnings flashing bright in two sets of determined eyes.

“I don’t trust her.”

“I’m not asking you to.”  Natasha eyed Laurel again before finally giving Steve a small nod.  Steve visibly relaxed and turned to address Clint.  “If you could help, she’s got a GPS chip attached to her spinal cord that could be activated at any moment.” Both Clint and Natasha stared quickly at Laurel, who grimaced and pulled the hair from her neck, exposing the small bump.

“Attached to her spinal cord?” Clint asked, fingers brushing over the bump.

“Yes, if it blinks red that means Hydra’s tracking.  A few  days ago they caught up to us in a hotel a few hours from here, shot her in the stomach, and the Winter Soldier appeared long enough to save her life before disappearing again.” Natasha raised an eyebrow in interest and took a step forward, studying the GPS chip.

“You think the Winter Soldier is tracking her GPS lock as well as Hydra?” She asked.

“It’s the most likely scenario.  Taking the chip out is not only risky for me, but in addition to cutting off Hydra’s only link to me, it would also leave Winter in the dark as to where I am.” Laurel explained.

“You speak as if you know him.” Natasha observed.

“I do, but I’m not really sure how.” Clint opened his mouth to ask, but Steve explained.

“Laurel was born in 1942, and grew up in post-war Germany as a Hydra agent in training.  In the sixties, she began appearing to people just before the Winter Soldier crossed them out.  Hydra kept her cryogenically frozen between her missions, but didn’t wipe her memories like they did with the Winter Soldier.  She retained memories of people and missions, but lost memories of her childhood, parents, and who she was before Hydra.”

“That’s why you wanted intel on Frost.  That’s the name she remembered.” Natasha figured.  Steve nodded.

“I remembered Laurel.  I know my name is Laurel, and I’m also called Frost.  I know I was born in 1942 and grew up in Germany, but I wasn’t born there.  I know I killed for Hydra, and Winter follows me.  As of a few days ago, I know Winter protects me and Hydra is trying to cross off their rogue assets.”

“She also speaks German in her sleep.” Laurel turns to shoot Steve a quick glare, and he matches it evenly.  “I ran last night’s German nightmare through a translator,” he picks up a piece of paper with his scratchy handwriting on it, “this is what you said: ‘Father, help.  I’m dying, I’m dying, help.  Father come back, help, help, I’m dying.’” He lowered the paper and watched Laurel as she took a moment to think, her eyes growing wide.

“When did you say the Winter Soldier was created?” She asked quickly.

“Sometime in the mid-forties, after James Barnes fell into a ravine in Switzerland.  Once Steve recognized him, it made more sense.” Natasha supplied.

“James Barnes?” She twisted her hands nervously.  “That’s the Winter Soldier’s name?” Clint nodded, and Laurel turned to Steve with disbelief written all over her face.  “James Barnes, Bucky?  That’s the name you, when we, oh god.”  She sat down heavily on the couch, holding her head in her hands.  “When did James Barnes ship out?”

“What?” Steve asked.

“Just answer the question Steve.” Laurel requested.

“Nineteen forty-two, why?” Laurel fell back on the couch, muttering to herself.  The former SHIELD agents waited for the former Hydra agent, and when Laurel sat back up, she had a crazed gleam in her eye and shock etched in every cell of her face.

“I was born in nineteen forty-two in New York City.  I was adopted and taken to Germany after the war.  Hydra began training me the minute they could.  You,” she pointed an accusatory finger to Steve, “you look at me and see James ‘Bucky’ Barnes.  The Winter Soldier protects me, and in my nightmares I call out in German to the only person who protects me, my father.” The blood drained from Natasha’s face and Clint fought to keep his composure.  Steve steadied himself against the back of the couch as he caught on to what Laurel was implying.

“Laurel Barnes.” Steve breathed.

O.O

                Laurel drifted to a heavy, drug-induced sleep as Clint cut carefully into the back of her neck with steady hands, exposing her Hydra tracker.  They had hoped they could disarm the chip without having to remove it, but it was proving pointless.  The next three hours were spent carefully and slowly removing the tracker in pieces.  Disassembled, the chip was easier to extract, but began blinking on the metal tray as Clint was stitching Laurel’s skin closed.  Natasha immediately left with the pieces of the blinking tracker, off to bury it somewhere in the woods before they abandoned base.  Sam sat with Steve out in the commons, bags packed around them with weapons and emergency supplies.

“I don’t think it’s as bad as you’re thinking it is Steve.  Your boy knocked someone up before shipping out, and after he was captured by Hydra, they tracked down his daughter and raised her as an assassin.” Sam stopped, looking down at his hands.  “Okay so maybe it is pretty bad, but you’ve spent what, two weeks with her now?  And she’s proved loyal to you, she’s not a threat, and together we’ll find Barnes.  We’re going to make this work.”  Steve nodded reluctantly.

“I’m not doubting Laurel, it’s just, he remembers her enough to protect her, but I’m afraid he’s not going to remember me anymore than he already has.”

“Even if he doesn’t completely remember you, he knows that you can take care of her, he’s seen it you said.  If he can trust you to take care of Laurel, I bet he’ll stick around, hopefully remember some more.  And if he never remembers, then at least by finding him you can save him from whatever it is he’s doing to himself.”

“He’s gonna kill me.”

“You don’t know that, he didn’t after the Helicarrier crash.” Steve shook his head, a slightly hysterical grin growing on his face.

“I slept with his daughter Sam, he’s definitely going to kill me.” Sam laughed aloud, clapping Steve on his shoulder.

“Can’t help you there Cap.  You got yourself into that one.”  Steve allows himself a smile, a real smile, that holds only a hint of the biting nerves he feels, and leans back.

“I wonder which one will come after me for that, the Winter Soldier or Bucky?”

“Both.” Steve laughed loudly with Sam.

O.O

                Natasha had covered up the thin, aggravated line on the back of Laurel’s neck with concealer and some clever blending.  The group sat on the train in two groups, Laurel sitting between Steve and Sam, and Clint and Natasha sitting together at the opposite end of the car.  Natasha was tapping away on her phone, watching the surveillance cameras from around the base they had just left.  She’d buried the GPS chip in sight of the cameras on the edge of the clearing in the hopes that someone would come looking for it.  She tapped Clint on the thigh and showed him the screen.  The Winter Soldier had appeared on the edge of the screen, metal hand clenching a small rectangle, blinking as he approached the spot where the chip was buried.  He stopped where it had been buried and clenched the tracker tightly, the small device shattering in his metal hand.  He began to dig in a panicked frenzy, and Clint felt a pang of sympathy, the man thought he was about to unearth his daughter’s body.  The slump of his tense shoulders when he found the tracker alone only confirmed what his panic had been about.  Clint and Natasha watched carefully as he sunk down onto his knees, exhausted and relieved, and held his head in his hands, shoulders shaking.  Natasha turned the screen down.

“I feel like we’re intruding.” She whispered in explanation.  Clint nodded in agreement and curled up against her side.  Natasha stroked gentle fingers through his short hair and glanced over to Steve, Laurel, and Sam.  Laurel was curled up against Sam, Steve’s jacket wrapped around her, and Steve was laughing quietly, snapping pictures with his phone while Sam tried to shoo him away.  Natasha’s phone beeped a second later and she opened the text from Steve.  It was Sam, frowning at Steve with Laurel curled tightly against him, mouth hanging open with one hand curled around Steve’s jacket to hold it on and the other hand curled in the collar of Sam’s shirt.  The caption read _‘cuddle buddies’_ and Natasha shook Clint carefully.  He blearily looked at the text and smiled, falling back against Natasha’s shoulder.

“They’re both gonna be in trouble with Daddy-o.” He muttered.  Natasha allowed herself a grin and settled against Clint, dropping off into a light doze.

                When the train pulled to a stop, Laurel jolted awake and immediately slammed a hand down on Steve’s thigh, digging her fingers into the muscle there.

“Dammit Laurel.” Steve cursed.  Laurel muttered an apology and moved her hand.

“Nat and Clint have some stuff to take care of in town first, they’re meeting us at the hotel later.” Sam nodded, pulling their bags down from the overhead storage and passing Steve and Laurel theirs.  Clint and Natasha disappeared into the crowd on the station platform and the trio made their way slowly through the crowds.  The crowds parted around Steve and Sam and Laurel followed in their wake easily.

                The hotel was warm and comfortable, and Laurel threw herself down onto the bed immediately.  Steve grinned and climbed into bed with her, nudging her over to make room and curling around her.

“Seriously Steve?  That’s just weird.” Sam tossed his bag onto the other bed and disappeared into the bathroom.  Steve nuzzled his face into Laurel’s shoulder and held her securely against his chest.

“You don’t think it’s strange, knowing that you’re my best friend’s daughter?”

“I can’t sleep on my own, and you miss him.  If I remind you of him, then so be it.” She took Steve’s hand in her own, intertwining their fingers together.  “Don’t let Sam get to you.” Steve thought about Bucky as he felt Laurel drifting to sleep, thought of the way he and Bucky used to sleep curled together, Bucky’s arms wrapped snuggly around Steve’s middle, scruffy chin tucked into the crook of Steve’s neck while he drooled in his sleep.  Laurel was different.  She took Steve’s old place, tucked into Steve the way Steve used to tuck into Bucky.  He didn’t drool on her shoulder the way Bucky used to drool on him, and he’d shaved yesterday so Laurel didn’t have a prickly half-beard scratching at her neck the way Bucky used to wait a few days extra just to bother Steve with the scruff.  Steve never admitted how much he loved it.

“You two are disgusting.” Sam quipped when he walked back into the main room.  Laurel stretched out an arm to Sam, pale hand extending above the blankets, expectant.

“Get in and quit complaining.”  Steve didn’t expect Sam to quietly slip under the covers on Laurel’s other side, but the mattress dipped and then there were three people tucked into the now too-small bed.  He didn’t complain, only shifted to make room for Laurel to fall back against him so Sam could curl around her too.

“This is weird.”

“Shut up Sam.” Laurel replied fondly.

O.O

                Natasha had used the GPS signal from Laurel’s chip to backtrack to the Winter Soldier’s tracker.  Steve didn’t even want to ask how, but the occasional blips that appeared on the computer’s map that indicated Bucky’s location reassured him.  He seemed to be wandering around Maine, at a loss as to Laurel’s location.

“We need to draw him in.  Get Laurel seen so he’ll come looking.” Natasha decided.  The group of five had locked themselves in the one hotel room to figure out their plan.  Laurel glanced over at the redhead from her position across one of the couches.

“Use me as bait?” She glanced over at Steve, who kept his face neutral.  She shrugged.  “Sure, I’m in.”

“Hydra will likely come for you as well.” Clint warned.  Laurel grinned, a grin Steve recognized from Bucky accepting an impossible challenge.

“That’s just fine.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) other than the plot and my OCs  
> Feels like it took forever to actually get to Bucky, but now that he's here, he's not going anywhere.

Laurel sat on the park bench, smoking a cigarette in the low evening light.  Across the expanse of trimmed grass and careful cement walkways she could see the man she was looking for.  He was pacing around the park fountain, arguing with someone over the phone, and Laurel smiled to herself in anticipation of him catching sight of her.  On his next turn he spotted her, steps faltering for a moment before he continued his pacing.  Could be any brunette watching him, right?  He slowed down as he turned to face her again, eyes narrowing in suspicion as he tried to discretely discern if he was actually seeing _the_ Frost.  Laurel let out a breath of smoke, tendrils curling away into the evening sky and obscuring her face as she leaned back on the bench.  She rested her arms on the back of the bench, her jacket pulling open to expose the small red star on the middle of her tee.  The man turned quickly, and began to fast walk away from her.  She grinned, lit another cigarette, and left.

“It’s done.” She spoke into the comm. unit.

“Get back to the room then, we’ll wait from here.” Steve’s voice replied.

“With all respect Cap, it’s more fun to follow him home.” She turned off the comm. as four voices began to protest and set off after the man, keeping to the shadows and out of sight.  He fumbled with his apartment key, obviously afraid that the Winter Soldier was going to drop down on him at any moment.  He didn’t know that he hadn’t been summoned yet.  Laurel could appreciate the macabre beauty of that, when she appeared to a target they immediately panicked and raised the alarm with their employers, and the Winter Soldier was summoned by this alarm.  “ _Bringing about their own destruction” s_ he remembered Winter telling her after a joint mission, a twisted grin visible after she’d pulled the mask away.

                Laurel sets up on the roof of the apartment building, storing her jacket in a maintenance closet at the top of the stairwell and waiting patiently in the small community greenhouse that was filled with browned and dry plants, obviously neglected.  It didn’t take her long to strap on her guns, the holsters holding them snuggly against her thighs, something she had missed.  She checked the knives inside her boots and the ones strapped to her back.  Out of habit, she popped the cap off one of her back molars and had a moment of panic before she remembered why the cyanide pill was gone.  She secured the straps that crossed her chest and back, holding extra bullets and her old Walther PPK that she vaguely remembered as belonging to Winter before it belonged to her.

                The last weak rays of the sun had slipped behind the horizon some time ago, and Laurel was sitting patiently in the heavy darkness.  She was somewhat surprised that Natasha or Clint hadn’t shown up yet to retrieve her so Steve could reprimand her for disobeying orders, but she figured she’d been a good ex-Hydra agent, and if she was going to fight against Captain America, she’d rather do it like this.  When the sun was beginning its slow rise, Laurel had to suppress a yawn.  He hadn’t shown up in the night, and if he hadn’t shown by now, he wouldn’t until night had fallen again.  She retrieved her jacket and curled up in the back corner of the green house.

                When Laurel woke up, the sun was aiming for the horizon, six pm, and she climbed carefully down to the bait’s apartment.  A quick glance inside found him sitting at his computer, jumping at every noise and glancing around frantically.  She grinned and went back to the greenhouse.  She turned on her comm. unit quickly.

“Target is still alive, I’m waiting out Winter.”

“What the hell were you thinking?” Steve demanded.  Laurel sighed before replying.

“Let me do this Cap.  Frost out.” She turned it off before anyone could protest and waited.  When midnight had passed, Laurel spotted a shadow, moving across the roof as a point of concentrated darkness.  The faint light from the streetlamp below caught something metal for a moment and she was coiled to strike, wide awake with anticipation running through her veins.  She watched, pistol clutched in her hands, as the shadow stepped across the roof and slipped through the door to the stairs.  She followed without a sound.  Two floors down, the Winter Soldier was standing outside the bait’s apartment.  The man was Hydra, important Hydra, so Laurel wouldn’t interrupt Winter as he did his work, but she thought of what would be changing in the Winter Soldier after being left out of the freezer for so long.  He might have part of Bucky Barnes back.  He might remember this kill, might actually feel guilt over this one, so she stepped out of the shadows before he could open the door.

“Winter.” He turned quickly, gun raised, and waited.  Laurel held up her hands, her own pistol now pointed to the ceiling, and studied his face.  His hair was even longer than the last time she’d seen him, when he’d told her that the man on the bridge was the man she could trust, his eyes were tired and scared and angry all in one, the dark circles around them evidence of his sleepless nights and the greasepaint he hadn’t bothered to wash off.  He was still wearing what Laurel thought of as his mission clothes, ripped and torn and burned in places, bloodstained in others.  His metal arm was scratched and missing a tile here and there.  He didn’t have that mask on though.  Finally didn’t have the mask on, full face exposed and expressive.  Laurel waited as recognition settled over him and his gun lowered.  She lowered her own, snapping it back into its thigh holster.

“Frost.” He replied, voice scratchy and gruff with disuse.

“Laurel.  My name is Laurel.” She corrected carefully, voice low and soft.  The Winter Soldier watched her for a moment before nodding.

“I remember you, remember that name.”

“Do you remember who I am?” The Winter Soldier’s brow furrowed as he tried to remember her.  After a tense moment, he gave a small nod.

“Important.  I protect you.”

“That’s right, you protect me.” She reached out a hand slowly, and Winter took it gingerly.  “Will you let me protect you now?” He nodded and Laurel carefully switched positions with him, letting go of warm flesh fingers to hold a finger to her lips.  He waited as she slipped into the apartment and firmly lodged a bullet in the brain of the Hydra man.  When she reemerged into the hall, the Winter Soldier was waiting patiently, eyes unusually calm and soft as he extended his left hand without thinking and waited for her to take it.  She did, wrapping cold metal in warm skin and leading him from the building.  They didn’t speak as they walked through the sleeping city, but when they neared the hotel Laurel stopped.

“Winter, the man on the bridge, I’ve been staying with him and his friends.  We’ve been looking for you together.” She watched his face to gauge his reaction, but he only nodded, face passive.  “They’re inside the hotel waiting for us, but we don’t have to go back tonight if you don’t want to.  I can find us somewhere to stay, and we can see them in the morning.”

                He began to walk toward the hotel again, and Laurel sped up to keep pace.  The lobby was blessedly empty and the lights had been lowered from the usual harsh glare of hotel lobbies.  They took the emergency stairs, Laurel didn’t want to spook Winter with a small metal box, and they walked slowly up four flights together.  The hallway was empty as well, and Laurel stood in front of Winter as she opened the room door carefully.  Four sets of eyes immediately snapped to them and behind her Laurel heard Winter’s gun click.  She held up a hand to the four in the room and turned around slowly.

“Winter, these are our friends.  Not a threat.” He looked down at Laurel, searching out the truth in her face, and found it, gun safety clicking back on as he lowered it.  She turned back to the room’s occupants.  “We’re going to come in, and I’m going to take him to get washed up and see if I can get him to sleep.  If you guys could move to one side of the room and keep your hands in sight that would be great.”  Natasha, Clint, and Sam had no problem following that request, but Steve stayed put in the middle of the room, staring at the Winter Soldier in disbelief.

“Bucky?” The soldier’s eyes snapped to Steve, narrowed as he studied the bright blue eyes that looked to him pleadingly.  Laurel shot Steve a warning glance and he took a step back so the pair of ex-Hydra assassins could pass by.  The Winter Soldier watched Steve over his shoulder as Laurel led him through to the bathroom.  When the door clicked closed everyone relaxed slightly, glancing around at each other.

“Steve, I know that’s your boy, but you need to remember that it’s also not completely him.” Sam warned.

“I can’t stand seeing him look so broken.”

“He is broken Cap.  At this point he’s probably a bad mix of James Barnes and the Winter Soldier inside.  Barnes knows Steve as his best friend, and the Winter Soldier knows him as his mission.  With what’s probably going on in his head, you’re the last person he needs to see.  Sam and I both fought him, we’re no good for him either.  Clint,” Natasha paused, and Clint shook his head.

“Ran into him on a mission in my early days with SHIELD.  We froze before running in separate directions.”

“Okay, so Clint’s a no as well.” Natasha continued.  “Laurel though, to Barnes she’s just a helpful girl with a weird resemblance to him, and to the Winter Soldier she’s someone he has worked with, someone he protects, and someone he knows has a deeper connection to him at least on some level.” She watched Steve as he relaxed slowly, letting Natasha’s words sink into him.  Clint volunteered to take first watch and set himself up just outside the window on the fire escape, and Natasha curled up on the couch.  Sam climbed into one bed and Steve sat down on the side of the other, he wasn’t about to just go to sleep now that Bucky was back.

                He waited a long time, longer than he would have thought a bath could even take, but after almost two hours Laurel appeared from the steamed bathroom with Bucky following behind her, wrapped tightly in one of the hotel towels, hair dripping down in front of his face.

“Steve do you have something he could wear?” Steve nodded and dug out a pair of sweats and one of the white tees Laurel had bought a few days ago, handing them over to her slowly so as not to spook Bucky.  He was looking around the room, planning out every exit and every target.  He shook himself, trying to throw off the thoughts.  Laurel turned back to him with the clothes and caught the ashamed and panicked look that flew across his features.  She knew that look.

“It’s okay to have those thoughts Winter, it was conditioned into us, it’s going to take a long time for them to go away.” He nodded, glancing behind Laurel at Steve, before retreating into the bathroom.  Steve sat back down, a sinking feeling in his stomach as he guessed what thoughts Laurel was comforting Bucky about.  Another half hour passed, he figured they’d have to move slowly around Bucky, but that didn’t make the waiting any easier.  The door opened again, spilling the harsh bathroom lights into the dim hotel room.  Laurel stepped out, leading Bucky by the hand.  Steve’s clothes were too big on him, would have been even months ago, but were even looser now that Bucky had spent months living on the run.  Laurel had managed to dry his hair and gotten Bucky to sit still long enough to braid it, and Steve gave a small grin at the sight of the little braid tickling Bucky’s back.  The greasepaint was finally gone, and the true extent of Bucky’s sleepless life was painted across his face.  He looked shrunken inside of himself, a shadow of the soldier and the assassin he had been, clinging tightly to Laurel’s hand and eyes widening at the sight of Steve waiting for him.

“Winter, I’m going to let go for a minute, I need to change out of my gear.  Are you going to be okay?” His hungry blue eyes tore away from Steve’s desperate ones and he nodded slowly to Laurel.  He reluctantly let go of her hand and she stepped over to the other side of the bed Steve was waiting on.  She pulled off her gear quickly and tugged a loose tee and warm leggings on, pulling her tangled brown curls into a quick bun before crossing back to the Winter Soldier.  He put his left hand out without thinking and took her hand, eyes locked on Steve.  Steve watched them curiously as they walked to the other side of the bed and Laurel sat down.

“Where do you want to sleep?” She asked.  The Winter Soldier stood there, staring between Steve and Laurel, before nodding and nudging Laurel with his right hand.  She climbed under the blankets, eyeing Steve with a look that told him to do the same.  When they were settled, the Winter Soldier lowered himself on top of the blankets and curled up on Laurel’s other side.  He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and buried his face in her neck.  Laurel rested her right hand in his hair and turned to Steve. _Good night._   She mouthed.  He nodded, eyes never leaving Bucky’s tense form, and turned out the light.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs

“As he becomes more of Bucky and less of the Winter Soldier, he’s going to start latching onto you Cap.” Steve nodded, watching Bucky sleep over Laurel’s shoulder.  They were sitting up in the bed that was much too small for the three of them, but Steve wasn’t about to leave.  Bucky was still curled around Laurel, his grip shifting to her middle as she had sat up to talk to Steve, but he remained soundly asleep.  “As Winter drains away, I don’t think it’ll be good for me to be around him.  The Winter Soldier knows me more than anyone else, including himself, but Bucky doesn’t even know I exist.  I don’t want him to panic if he wakes up one morning and doesn’t know where he is or who I am.”

“How soon do you think that’ll happen?”

“I can’t tell, but he’s okay sleeping near you as long as I’m here too, so maybe it won’t be long.” Laurel glanced down at Bucky, running gentle fingers through the hair that had been pulled out of his braid during the night.  He snuggled further into Laurel’s side, holding tightly to her and they heard a loud ripping noise that indicated Bucky’s metal arm had caught in Laurel’s tee shirt and just ripped it at the seams.

“Was that-?” Steve began.  Laurel nodded.

“It’s not the first time.  We need to get his arm fixed.  The missing tiles make it easier to snag on things, and if it catches on too much he’ll get really frustrated, and I don’t think I need to explain what happens then.”  Steve nodded, watching Bucky holding onto the exhausted agent.  Laurel looked down at him too, watching his relaxed breathing.  “I don’t think he’s been able to sleep in a while.”

“I don’t think he’s felt safe enough to for seventy years.” Steve replied.  Laurel nodded, eyes watering, and pressed a kiss to the side of Bucky’s head.

“I’ve never met Bucky, do you think he’ll like me?”  Steve reached over and took Laurel’s hand, squeezing her fingers.

“He’s gonna love you Laurel.”

“Do the three of you need your own room so you don’t disturb those of us actually trying to sleep?” Sam asked, head poking up from the pile of blankets he slept under.  Bucky stirs and wakes up, tightening around Laurel and sizing up everyone in the room to assess their threat level.  Honestly Laurel’s surprised he’s slept as long as he had.  She tugs lightly on his braid.

“We’re safe here Winter.”  He settles back down, keeping an eye on Steve from over Laurel.  “Wanna get up for the day?”  He tears his eyes away from Steve long enough to look up at Laurel when he nods.  He unfolds himself slowly from the bed, realizing a moment too late that Laurel’s torn shirt is still caught in his arm.

“It’s okay Winter, it’s fine.” Laurel is sitting on the floor in her bra, rubbing one hand along Bucky’s back to calm him down while untangling the shirt from his metal arm.  He’s crouched over on the floor, breathing heavily and trying to push down the panic attack.  Laurel gets the shirt untangled and rubs her hand on the metal arm.  “Hey, look, we’re fine.  No one’s hurt, nothing’s broken, we’re okay, we’re safe.”

“Я, блядь, разорвать все! Это не нормально!” He shouts at her.  Up on the bed, Steve flinches at the sound of the hard language and unfamiliar accent coming from his best friend.  The voice is familiar, but the tone is not, and the accent is even more alien.

“Wir sind feine Winter. Du hast mich nicht zu verletzen. Ich bin nicht gebrochen. Du bist nicht gebrochen. Wir sind okay.” Bucky seemed to calm down, his breath evening out slowly, and Laurel coaxed him to sit down on the bed.  There’s no sign of Natasha or Clint anywhere, and Steve can only assume they rented out their own room after everyone had gone to bed in order to actually get some sleep.  He and Sam wait, perfectly still and perfectly silent, until Laurel has disappeared into the bathroom with the Winter Soldier again.

“What do we do now?” Sam asked, getting out of bed and stretching.

“I think we need to get back to New York.  Tony can help with Bucky’s arm, and hopefully just being in the tower will afford us more security than we have now.”  The door to the room opened and Natasha and Clint walked in, yawning and popping their joints back into place.

“Rough night?” Sam asked with a grin.

“Rough morning.  We got Hydra in the lobby.” Natasha replied.  Clint gestured to the bathroom.

“They in there?”

“Yeah, I’ll go get them.” Steve replied.  He crossed over to the bathroom door and knocked.  “Laurel?  We’ve got a problem in the lobby.  We need to leave, now.”

“Our old employers?” Laurel asked from the other side of the door.

“Unfortunately yes.” The door opens and Winter appears, hair re-braided and wearing a pair of Steve’s jeans and the same tee shirt he slept in.  He leans over and pulls a pistol from Laurel’s bag.

“They won’t get far.” Laurel jumps out of the bathroom in a new tee and grabs Winter by the arm.

“We’re not fighting them Winter.  Today we run.” He tucks the gun into his waistband and Laurel picks up her bag after slipping a gun into her own waistband and tucking a knife into each boot.

“Let’s run then guys, we didn’t get all of them.” Clint opens the window and jumps out onto the fire escape.

O.O

                Tony Stark had thought nothing could surprise him at this point, hell, he had fought to defend the Earth from an alien invasion alongside a ninety year old popsicle and a god from Nordic legend.  He didn’t expect two ninety year old super soldiers, certainly didn’t expect them to be accompanied by two of his assassin teammates, and really didn’t see the Hydra assassin tagging along with an ex-military man who, rumor had it, flew around like Icarus.  Nevertheless, there they are, standing in his lobby, arguing with Maria Hill to let them up to see him.  She’s watching the Winter Soldier as he paces angrily around a smaller girl who looks too much like him to be a coincidence, and the smaller girl is trying to catch his metal hand and get him to stop his pacing.  Clint and Natasha are talking to Maria in hushed tones, while Sam stands by and watches and Steve glances between the girl and the Winter Soldier with a deep longing on his face.  Tony is watching curiously from his lab, Jarvis having projected the security video feed the minute the Winter Soldier was spotted.

“Tell Maria to let them up for god’s sake, they’re freaking out my employees.”

“Of course sir.” The AI replies and on the projection Maria pauses, listening to the instructions on her comm. unit, before turning back to Clint and Natasha.  He watches as Maria leads the group to the elevators, but the Winter Soldier and the girl both stop, staring at the spotless steel doors.  Steve leans over and explains something to Maria, before she points the Winter Soldier and the girl to the door for the emergency stairs.

“Jarvis what’s going on down there?” Tony asks, setting down his tools and picking up a rag to wipe the oil from his hands.

“It would appear sir, that the Winter Soldier and his associate are taking the stairs.”

“Why?”

“Given the Winter Soldier’s experience with Hydra over the last seventy years, it is understandable that he would not want to voluntarily walk into a small metal box.” Tony scoffs, somewhat offended.

“It’s not a small metal box Jarvis, my elevators are wonderful things, not boxes at all.”  He glances up at the projection, where Jarvis is tracking the progress of the two brunettes as they make their way up the stairs.  “What about the girl?  That’s going to take them forever to get up those stairs.”

“Captain Rogers will be arriving in a moment, I believe he could explain.  Based on facial recognition I have found records of her in conjunction to the Winter Soldier’s targets over the last fifty years.  Using facial matching, she is a close relative to the Winter Soldier.”

“Just what we need, an assassin family reunion.”  The door slides open silently and Steve walks into the lab, his expression weary and shoulders rolled forward in exhaustion.  Tony sets down the oil rag and walks over to where Steve has sunk down onto one of the stools, head in hands.

“Boyfriend problems Cap?”  Steve must be exhausted, he doesn’t even glare at Tony when he replies.

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”  He groans, looking up at Tony and sighing.  “Natasha and I were hunting down Hydra when we ran into Laurel, that’s the brunette leading Bucky up the stairs,” he explains with a nod towards the projection, where Laurel and Bucky are still fifteen floors away.  “Natasha left to get Clint, and I took Laurel with me.  We moved around, looked for Buck, and finally found him yesterday after joining up with Natasha, Clint, and Sam.  She’s an ex-Hydra assassin, they used her to scout out targets for the Winter Soldier, and to take out smaller targets when they didn’t want to wake him up.”

“You took an ex-Hydra assassin with you to find another assassin who was your best friend in the forties?”  Tony shook his head, a small grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.  “You’ve got a thing for brunettes who can kill you Cap.”

“I don’t want to talk about it now Tony.”

“Okay then we need to at least talk about what’s going on in your boy’s head, cause I don’t need the Winter Soldier up here.”  Steve sighs again, letting his head drop down onto the lab table.

“He’s a mix of Bucky and the Winter Soldier we think.  Laurel knows him best, so he’s sort of glued himself to her side.  Laurel thinks that as he becomes more of Bucky and less of the Winter Soldier he’ll start to attach himself to me cause I’m the only person here he knew when he was still Bucky.”

“Who is she though?” Steve groans, rubbing tired hands over his face.

“She’s Buck’s daughter.”

“Jesus Cap.” Tony breathes.  Steve sighs again.

“I know, I know.  He got some dame pregnant just before shipping out, and Hydra kidnapped his daughter after they had him.  She was raised in post-WWII Germany, trained to be an assassin.  Hydra froze her the way they would freeze Buck, but she didn’t get memory wipes.”  Tony watches the forlorn expression on Steve’s face for a minute longer, before replying with a cheeky grin.

“Well you know Cap, here in the 21st century you could marry your boy.”

“If this is retaliation for me not correcting you when you called him my boyfriend I swear I’m going to set Laurel on you.”  Tony grins, knowing he’s helping Steve to let go of some of the stress that’s been dogging him since SHEILD’s fall.

“That could be fun, I’d like to see what she can do.” Steve shook his head, a small smile gracing his hard expression, and glanced over at the projection of Laurel and Bucky.  They had reached the correct floor and Laurel was holding the door open for the Winter Soldier.  Tony and Steve waited while Laurel and Winter approached the lab door.

“Shall I let them in sir?” Jarvis asks.  After a nod from Steve, Tony replies.

“Sure thing Jarvis.”  The door slid open and Laurel and Winter stepped in.  One set of clear blue eyes focuses on Steve, and the other on Tony.  Tony stared back at Laurel evenly, taking in the way her body was coiled tight like a spring, as if waiting for him to attack Bucky and she was ready to defend him.

“So you’re Barnes’-” Steve cut Tony off with a quick glare, and he realized that maybe Barnes didn’t know, and Steve wasn’t about to tell him.  “-bodyguard.”  He finished.  Laurel shook her head, and Bucky refocused on Tony.  He froze.

                _Stark.  He looks like Howard.  My target, no, my friend.  Howard was my friend.  He helped Steve rescue me.  Steve._ His eyes shift back to Steve, who is watching him with a small frown, obviously concerned about his locked and nervous posture.  _Steve.  That’s Steve.  My Steve._

“Steve?” His voice is quiet, hard, scratchy with disuse.  That doesn’t bother Steve though, and Bucky watches as hope explodes in his eyes.  He tries to hide it, but Bucky can see right through him, always could.  “I can practically see the hope oozing from you Stevie, you were never good at hiding things from me.”  Steve crosses slowly to Bucky and extends his right hand.  Bucky takes it with a grin and pulls him into a tight hug.  After a moment, Bucky hugs him back, metal arm whirring as he tightens around Steve.

“God I’ve missed you.”

“Went and left me alone you jerk.”

“Couldn’t deal with that face anymore punk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations (according to an online translator, sorry for any mess ups, I only speak German, not Russian):
> 
> "Я, блядь, разорвать все! Это не нормально!" - I fucking break everything! It's not okay!
> 
> "Wir sind feine Winter. Du hast mich nicht zu verletzen. Ich bin nicht gebrochen. Du bist nicht gebrochen. Wir sind okay." - We're fine Winter. You haven't hurt me. I'm not broken. You're not broken. We're okay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs

                He slips away ten minutes later, but this time there’s more recognition in the Winter Soldier’s eyes as he stares at Steve.  They’re still in the lab with Tony when it happens, and Winter pulls Laurel between Steve and himself, Bucky’s existence evidenced by the fact that Winter is trying to keep himself from hurting Steve.

“What’s wrong?”  His metal arm clutches onto Laurel and one of the tile edges catches on her jacket.  He freezes while Laurel untangles it.

“I can feel him coming back.”

“You could let him you know.” Steve and Tony watch as she leads him a few steps from them, putting them out of immediate danger.  Steve sits back down and Tony leans on the table next to him.

“I’ll fix up his arm, that should help a bit at least.”

“Thank you Tony.” Steve looked up in time to catch Winter fold himself into Laurel’s shoulder, his own shoulders shaking as he cried silently.  “I think he’s getting more of Bucky back.”  Tony nods, and decides to wait with Steve.

                It takes a lot of convincing, but Winter finally agrees to let Tony take his entire arm off.  The inventor stores it away in a safe box, and starts off to make him an entirely new one.

“This one’ll be lighter, more balanced, more durable, and it won’t have that horrible star.  It shouldn’t be long.” He reassured him as he played with holographic designs for the new arm, and Winter only grunted his consent.

“Am I allowed to sleep?” Winter asked.  Steve’s careful expression cracked and Laurel bit her lip, eyes watering as she nodded quickly.

“Of course, come on, I’ll take you upstairs.” Jarvis opened doors and closed others as they walked, silently leading them to the room Tony had set aside for them.  The door opened onto a clean, simple room, with a large bed and one whole wall of glass looking out onto the city.  A small, clean closet was filled with clothes that Pepper had sent for while they’d been down in the lab with Tony, and Winter shed his dirty and ripped clothes as soon as the door was closed behind them.

“Do you want a bath?” He nodded, and Laurel took him into the bathroom, picking up a thin sweatshirt and a pair of loose pants from the closet.

                An hour later Steve was shown to the same room, where Bucky and Laurel were sitting on the bed, Bucky helping Laurel to braid her hair.  She didn’t have the heart to tell him that he really wasn’t helping at all.

“It’s still early, you two turning in?” He asked, setting his shield down propped against the side of the bed.  Winter nodded.

“It has been a hard few months.” He handed Laurel the hair band and she quickly fixed her braid before tying it up.

“Are you staying with us then Cap?” Steve watched Laurel’s expression, her back turned to the Winter Soldier and her eyes encouraging him.  After Bucky’s sudden emergence earlier, he assumes that Laurel shouldn’t be alone with him.

“Of course.  I’ll be out in a bit.”  The bathroom door closed behind him and Laurel tucked herself in under the thick blankets.  Winter crawled in next to her, and groaned in frustration when he tried to wrap an arm around her middle and remembered where his left arm was.  Laurel wrapped herself around him before he could get any angrier.  When Steve finally showed up Laurel was already asleep but the Winter Soldier was waiting as he got into bed on Laurel’s other side.

“I know you.  The old me knows you.  Loves you I think.” Steve stares like a deer in headlights at the man, trying to look intimidating with the sleeping brunette drooling on his shirt.  He gives a small smile.

“We grew up together.  You took care of me when I was sick, which was always.”  He paused, watching the soldier’s reaction.  A small grin was pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“The Cyclone wasn’t exactly taking care of you.” Steve smiles wider at the memory, and the fact that the Winter Soldier remembers too.

“That’s only cause you’re a jerk.”

“Goodnight punk.”

O.O

                They woke up to screams, high and shrill and accompanied by Laurel’s fingernails digging into any skin she could find.  Steve has one hand drawing blood from his thigh and Bucky has her other hand digging tightly into his side.

“Laurel!” Steve tries to wake her up, and Bucky is still Bucky, trying to detach the girl’s impossibly strong grip while beginning to panic over where he is.  She finally wakes up, shooting straight up in bed before curling in on herself.  Bucky is showing the shadows of the Winter Soldier’s conditioning and is breathing heavily, trying to keep himself calm.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to set him off.” Laurel is rocking, hugging her knees to her chest and Steve is reaching around her to take Bucky’s hand.

“Steve, Steve, where are we, who is this girl, what’s going on?” He begins to reach over to grab his left arm and Steve grabs his hand quickly.

“Don’t, don’t.  Just, just hold my hand Bucky.  Hold on.”  He holds tighter to Steve’s hand and Steve finds a small hand clutching at his free hand and Laurel moves over so Steve can settle himself between the two.  Laurel isn’t looking at him, just holding onto his right hand.  Bucky has his left, and is studiously staring at a point above Steve’s left shoulder.

“Buck?  You okay?”

“What the hell is going on Steve?”  Laurel’s hand slips away and Steve is grateful as she leaves the room soundlessly.  He holds onto Bucky.

“This is going to sound crazy, but we’re in the twenty-first century.”  Blue eyes darkened and Bucky’s brow furrowed in skepticism.

“The twenty-first century?  What, with Stark’s flying cars and everlasting energy?”  Steve shrugged.

“Kind of, yeah.”  Bucky shakes his head.

“Okay, even if I accept that, how?”

“You fell in Switzerland.  You somehow survived, were taken by Hydra and kept alive for the last seventy years.  They took your memory, and much of who you were before the war.  I went down with a Hydra bomber headed for New York.  I was frozen in arctic ice for seventy years.  The thing that made me Captain America kept me alive all that time.  Now we’re here.”  Bucky has a hold on Steve’s hand, and is starting to shiver.

“That shouldn’t be right, but it feels right.  It feels like there’s something you’re not telling me though.” Steve never could lie to those big blue eyes, dark in the pre-dawn light and desperate in Bucky’s confusion.

“We won the war.” Bucky grins somewhat hysterically and lets out a huff of air that could be a laugh if Steve wished hard enough.

“Somehow I already knew that.  There’s something else?  Who’s that girl?  Why won’t you let me look at my left arm?”  Steve took a deep breath and nodded toward Bucky’s left side.  He slowly turned his head, eyes widening when he caught sight of the empty sleeve.  “What the fuck Steve?  What the fuck?!” He starts to pull away from Steve but Steve holds on.

“Buck it’s okay, look it’s not as bad as it seems.  You’ve got a really nice prosthesis, it’s being fixed up right now, it’s okay.”

“Steve I’m missing a fucking arm!  How is that okay?”  Steve takes a deep breath but Bucky has started to squeeze his hand back, he focuses on the pressure.

“Something happened while you were with Hydra and they had to give you a new arm.”

“What did they do to me?” Steve hesitates, the last thing he wants to do is set Bucky off again when he’s finally begun to calm down, but it might be best to get everything out in the open now.

“They brainwashed you, and wiped your memories, and a lot of other horrible things, but they used you as a weapon for them.  You were their go-to assassin for a long time.” Bucky’s breathing changes as Steve talks, heavier and shallower, like he’s having trouble drawing air.  Steve tentatively reaches out and folds him into a hug when he doesn’t protest.  “You’re okay now Bucky.  I’ve got you now.”  Steve knows Bucky well enough to know not to acknowledge the growing tear stain on his shirt.

“Is that everything?  Who’s that girl?” Steve really, really doesn’t want to do this, but it’s Bucky, and he can’t say no to Bucky, never could.

“Back before you got shipped off one of your dames got pregnant, obviously didn’t tell you, and had the kid once you’d shipped out.  After Hydra had you in their hands, they kidnapped your kid, daughter actually.  She was raised by Hydra in Germany after the war.  Raised as an assassin and kept on ice but they didn’t wipe her memories.  She’s a little unstable, but the man they turned you into worked with her for years, and remembered that he had an attachment to her through all the memory wipes.”

“My daughter?”

“We’re pretty sure.  Laurel Barnes.  If we could get a blood sample Stark says he can make sure.” Steve catches himself a moment too late and Bucky’s eyes grow wide.

“Stark?  Howard Stark?  He’s here?  Can I see him?”

“His son actually, Anthony Stark.  Howard,” Steve hates this, wishes someone else could catch Bucky up on everything that happened, but doesn’t trust anyone to do it but himself.  “Howard died in a car accident a while ago.” Bucky freezes, and Steve can see the Winter Soldier settle into those familiar blue eyes, knows that Bucky is being pushed away from the controls again.  He tries desperately to hang on.

“I did that.  It wasn’t an accident.”  Steve gently takes Bucky’s hand, and counts it as a small victory when he flinches but doesn’t pull away.

“It wasn’t your fault Buck.  Hydra, they, they made you do things, did things to you to make you carry out their missions.  None of this is your fault.”

“Steve I swear if you’re about to say it’s your fault for letting me fall I’m going to have to finish my mission.” Steve sits still, Bucky’s words hitting him full in the chest, his heart tightening and a sliver of concern wedging into his mind.  Bucky’s tone is all him, but the bit about finishing the mission is all Winter Soldier.

“Bucky-”  When he pushes forward Steve has a moment of panic in which all he knows is the Winter Soldier is coming to kill him, but the eyes are too soft and the expression too smug and then there are warm lips on his and the Winter Soldier is nothing but a distant memory.  Steve is too shocked for a moment to react, and Bucky immediately pulls away, an apology forming on his lips, but Steve follows him back, kissing the apology away.  The door opens and Steve startles, tries to pull away, but Bucky has a tight grip on him with the one arm he has and keeps Steve close; Steve could easily break the grip but he’s enjoying himself too much.  A lifetime of want is finally being recognized and he doesn’t think he could stand to push it away again, especially when Bucky has introduced his tongue and Steve knows he could die happy.

O.O

                Laurel isn’t at all surprised when she steps into the room to get dressed and Bucky and Steve are sitting on the bed, groaning and kissing sloppily and pulling at each other.  She grabs one of the outfits Pepper sent and disappears into the bathroom.  She showers and dresses quickly, tying up her wet hair in a sloppy bun and leaving the room as fast as she can.  Bucky has Steve pinned to the bed and she doesn’t want to be around when they acknowledge seventy years of pent-up sexual tension.  Natasha is waiting for her in the hallway, arms crossed as she leans against the wall.  Laurel closes the door quickly, hoping the redhead couldn’t see inside.

“Do you need something?” She asked, voice even and a neutral expression on her face.  Natasha just watched her.

“I’m here to collect you for your psych eval.” She turns and begins to walk down the hall.  Laurel follows, two steps behind so she doesn’t have to talk to her.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs.

                Bucky growls in frustration and sits up, his full weight pushing down on Steve.  Concerned blue eyes watch him and a hand reaches up to rub small circles on his hip.

“What’s wrong Buck?”

“I need my arm, I feel helpless.” He watched Steve’s reaction, and when the super soldier just nodded in understanding and sat up slowly, displacing Bucky a bit and pressing a kiss to his stern mouth, Bucky was glad that he understood.  He pulled on his shirt and pants and waited for Steve to find his own clothes before stepping out into the hallway.  They found Tony down in his lab, covered in grease and small burns and testing the flexibility of the metal arm.

“Did you work all night?” Steve asked upon entering the lab.  Tony looked up and smirked at the sight of Steve and Bucky, disheveled and yawning as they walked over to him.

“Your boy needs his arm.” He replied, grinning.  “It’s almost done, just need to make sure it’s calibrated and all set for him.”  Bucky took a careful seat on one of the stools and Tony brought the new arm over.  It looked exactly like the last one, but the shoulder was blank this time.  It took a while, but the arm was finally attached properly, and Bucky began to flex it, testing the range of the wrist and letting the tiles shift and click out of place and then back into place.

“It’s a lot lighter.”

“Yeah, that last one was way too heavy, this one should be perfectly balanced, made to weigh the same as your right arm.  It should make everything easier.”  Bucky stands up, getting used to the new balance and flexing his fingers.

“Thank you Anthony.”

“It’s just Tony, and it’s no problem.”  Bucky nods, inspecting the arm as he walks absently out of the lab.  Steve thanks Tony again and follows Bucky out.

                Steve finds a set of new paintbrushes and acrylics and oils and a weather proofing topcoat sitting on the bed when he and Bucky get back to the room.  Bucky grins at the sight and pulls off his shirt.  Steve immediately takes his face in his hands and kisses him.

“God Steve-” Bucky groans, a grin on his face as he kisses Steve back.  He pulls away after a moment, holding Steve away from him.  “I want you to paint it.”

“What?” Steve asks, trying to kiss Bucky again.  He laughs and holds him back.

“My arm, there used to be a star.  It’s blank now.  I want you to paint it.” He finally lets Steve kiss him, all grins and quick, chaste kisses.

“What do you want then?” Bucky grins and steps back, picking up Steve’s shield.  Steve smiles.  “Seriously?”

“Let the whole world know who I fight for.”  Steve playfully pushes Bucky, a shy smile on his face.  “The great Captain’s embarrassed.” He smirks, setting down the shield and hooking a finger in Steve’s waistband.  “He’s rather attractive when he’s embarrassed.” He kisses Steve with a grin, open mouthed and sloppy, pulling away when Steve moans into his mouth.  “You gonna paint it or not?”

“I thought we could have a bit of fun first.” He kisses Bucky again, pushing him towards the bed and grinning against his mouth as they tumble onto the bed.  Bucky pushes him off.

“You’ve had your fun, c’mon, I want this thing painted.” Steve groans and climbs off of him, pulling off his own shirt and picking up the paints.

“Fine, but you’re going to paint me too.”  Bucky sits up, turning so Steve can sit on the edge of the bed and reach his arm.

“I can’t paint Steve, and it’ll just wash off anyway.” Bucky complains as Steve sets out a base coat of white paint, a circle as big as the star had been.

“Please Buck.”  Bucky grins and turns to Steve.  Expectant blue eyes watch him, paintbrush hovering above his arm.

“Those dopey blue eyes of yours will be the death of me.”  Steve laughs, kisses him lightly, and continues to paint.

                When Steve is done, Bucky lets the weather proof topcoat dry while he stares at the blank expanse of Steve’s shoulders.  He stares at Steve’s right arm and carefully sets his brush to the shoulder, in the same spot where Steve’s shield now adorns his left shoulder.  He sets the words out carefully, in a deep blue paint that matches the color of Steve’s uniform from their Howling Commandos day.  He can’t help himself, and ends it with the outline of a small heart, tilted so it serves as a sloppy ‘B’ as well.  When the paint dries he kisses it, kisses Steve, and sets the paint and the brush down.  Steve twists around and looks down at Bucky’s words before grinning fondly at him.

“You’re such a sap Buck.”  Bucky flushes and shoves Steve, who falls from the bed with a grin on his face.

“And you’re a punk.”

“Only cause I was raised with a jerk like you.”

O.O

                Steve disappears for a few hours while Bucky gets to know Laurel.  Natasha has them sitting together in one of the smaller common rooms while the rest of the team is huddled around a surveillance screen watching them.

“You don’t think this is a bit intrusive, even for us?” Bruce asks.  Clint shrugs and Natasha flips a switch so they can hear Laurel and Bucky as well.

“We need to know what exactly they know about each other.” She replies, her voice even and betraying no emotion.

“Steve said you shot her.” Tony accused.

“I had a job to do.” She answered simply.

“We can all see you don’t like her.” Bruce spoke up.  Natasha only shrugged.

“I’m not a very trusting person.” She replied.  Clint laid a hand on her shoulder and she gently placed her hand over his.

“You trust me well enough, look how we started out.” Natasha turned to frown at him and opened her mouth to object.  “Steve trusts them both, and we trust Steve.”  She settled him with a small glare, but there was no real heat behind it, and in a rare display of affection she gave him a quick peck on the lips.  Bruce and Tony pretended not to see, suddenly engrossed in the sight of Bucky and Laurel staring each other down on the screen.

“Did you know your mother?” Bucky finally asked.  Laurel slowly shook her head.

“Don’t think you really knew her either.”  Bucky gave a guilty grin.

“I’ll admit that’s likely true.  I wasn’t the most, ah, attentive of young men.” Laurel grinned and Bucky echoed it.  “You look just like me you know.”

“Thanks for the strong genes I guess, Steve didn’t let me die cause he looked at me and saw you.”

“When did you almost die?” There’s a note of pain in Bucky’s voice, pained at the prospect of this girl dying.

“Most recently?  In a hotel supply closet after being shot by Hydra.  You were nice enough to show up and patch me up thankfully.  Before that though, on the roof of a Hydra facility after being shot by Natasha while she and Steve looked for you.”  Bucky shook his head slowly.

“I remember that, you bleeding out on some kitchen floor.  There was blood everywhere, you kept telling me you were dying.”  Laurel meets his gaze evenly.

“I was dying.”

O.O

                When Steve shows up again Natasha and Laurel are in the large communal kitchen making dinner, stepping carefully around each other and eyeing each other out of the corner of their eyes.  Bucky is sitting at the table, leaning back in his chair and watching them.  Steve can see the Winter Soldier in the way his eyes follow the two but sees Bucky in the way he relaxes against the chair and lets his arms lay at his side.  Bucky’s eyes snap to him as he enters the kitchen and then soften as Steve walks over to him.

“You were gone for a long while.” Steve grinned at Bucky and pulled a chair over.

“I got something for you.”  One of Bucky’s eyebrows raises in curiosity, playful fire dancing in his eyes.

“Really?  Is it something I have to wait to see?”  Steve glances over at Natasha and Laurel, who are watching each other as they cook.  He turns back to Bucky.

“I think you’ll want to wait.”  Bucky glances over at the two assassins in the kitchen, who are both clutching their knives a little too tensely, and lays a hand on Steve’s thigh.

“Not a real fan of waiting.”  Steve grins and stands up, walking quickly from the room with Bucky following him.  They pass Clint on the way out.

“Could you make sure Nat doesn’t kill Laurel and Laurel doesn’t kill Nat?” Steve asks.

“You let those two in a room filled with knives together?” Clint asks, obviously horrified.

“It’s not like a knife-free room would be any better.” Steve answers.  Clint grins and turns into the kitchen.

                When Bucky gets Steve alone he locks the door behind them and immediately pulls off his shirt.  Steve grins, shedding his own tee and Bucky stops in the act of unbuttoning Steve’s pants.

“You didn’t.” Steve grins, eyes bright as he kisses Bucky.

“It’s only fair.”  Bucky traces the words on Steve’s skin, the skin red and raw under the familiar words.  Words he’d painted there that morning.  “Till the end of the line.  You even got the heart inked you damn dreamer.”  Steve smiles brightly and kisses Bucky slowly, tongue tracing his lips and pushing gently into Bucky’s warm mouth.  Bucky bit down gently on Steve’s bottom lip and pushed against him, Steve’s low moans encouraging him.  A hand crept under his waistband to dig warm fingers into his skin and Bucky hissed against the small pain it brought.  He retaliated by slipping his own hand into the front of Steve’s half undone pants and cups him through the fabric of his boxer-briefs, swallowing down Steve’s low moans.

“God Buck-” Bucky pulls away and grins, sliding down Steve’s body and pulling down his jeans, pressing his smiling mouth against Steve’s growing erection.

“You know what I’m going to do to America’s favorite poster boy?” Bucky asks, looking up at Steve with a fierce grin and god if Steve has ever seen anything half so perfect he certainly doesn’t remember it.

“Hopefully finish what you’ve started here.”  Bucky laughed, head thrown back, loud laughs echoing through the room and Steve smiled at him, a full smile, one that he’d missed for years and would be damned if he’d miss it again.  When his laughter died down, he pulled down Steve’s boxer briefs and took him in his mouth without preamble.  Steve’s hips jerked involuntarily, thoughts only of Bucky’s hot mouth around him and wonders briefly if this whole thing is a dream.

“If I’m dreaming, don’t you dare wake me up.”  He feels Bucky grin around him, and that now-familiar tongue pushes heavily against the underside of his cock.  Bucky begins to bob his head slowly, his tongue tracing Steve’s veins and his hands gripping his ass tightly for a better hold, one cold metal and one warm flesh.  It doesn’t take long at all before Steve’s hands are tangled in Bucky’s curls and he’s crying out that he’s close.  When Steve comes, he swears he can see stars and Bucky makes a show of swallowing it all down.  He pulls away with a wet pop and rises up to kiss Steve.

“I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and I won’t remember any of this.”  Steve holds Bucky tightly and kisses him back slowly.

“Blessedly real Buck, it’s all blessedly real.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs

                Bucky had completely forgotten that they shared the room with Laurel until the door opened and she stepped in and he was buried in Steve’s ass.  Thankfully Steve was too preoccupied with Bucky to notice, but Bucky’s eyes locked with Laurel’s and she disappeared into the hallway as quickly as she’d appeared in the room.  She didn’t know what to do with herself at that point, it was nearing midnight and everyone else had gone to bed, so she sat out in the hallway, determined to wait them out.  A while later the door cracked open and Laurel stepped in, not quite able to meet Bucky’s eyes as he held the door for her.

“He’s in the shower, doesn’t even know you were here.” Bucky supplies.  Laurel nods her thanks and tries not to notice the new bed sheets and how conspicuously tidy the room is, something she fails at spectacularly.

“I guess I should mention that while you two disappeared, Natasha and I did _not_ go at each other with the kitchen knives and your absence was noted at dinner.  Bets were placed as to how long it would take the two of you to get together, so,” she grins at Bucky and god if he doesn’t recognize that grin of his on her face, “I just won.  I understand if you’d like me to wait to collect my winnings.”  Bucky can feel a grin of his own growing on his face.

“What were the exact bets?”  Laurel pulls a pair of loose sleep shorts and a tee from the closet before answering.

“Tony said a week, Bruce said a month, Natasha said tomorrow, Clint said seventy years ago, and I said ‘instead of dinner’.”  Bucky roars with laugher, joined quickly by Laurel.  They stifle their laughter when they hear the shower turn off, and Laurel pulls on her pajamas quickly.  Steve steps out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam and a pair of sweats and Laurel grins widely.  She stares at him and taps a spot on the base of her neck.

“Dad you fucking vampire!” She grins as Steve blushes bright red and disappears into the bathroom to examine the bruise in the exact pattern of Bucky’s teeth that’s adorning his neck and Bucky simply beams, obviously proud of his handiwork.  He waits until Steve walks back out, still fighting his blush, to ‘casually’ stretch and lift up his shirt so Laurel can see the bruises and bites and hickeys decorating his stomach, hips, and chest.  Laurel grins at Steve.  “Didn’t know Captain America had it in him.”

“Captain America had a lot in him.” Bucky replied with a smirk.  Steve flushed and glared, no real anger in his eyes, and Laurel practically chokes she’s laughing so hard.

“Should I get my own room then?”  Both Steve and Bucky shake their heads.

“If that Hydra assassin wakes up I don’t want him attacking Steve.” Bucky tells her quietly.

“I don’t want Winter waking up and not knowing what’s going on.” Steve tells her at the same time.  Laurel nods in understanding and climbs into the extra-large bed, feeling the mattress dip around her as two super soldiers settle down to sleep.

O.O

                Bucky Barnes may have gone to sleep, but it’s the Winter Soldier who wakes up.  It becomes a pattern, Laurel curls up with Steve on one side and Bucky on the other, and wakes up with Captain America trying not to startle the Winter Soldier who is eyeing him with a knife in hand.  Two months have passed since the trio moved into the tower, and Laurel is beginning her morning routine of calming Winter down and talking him into tucking his knife away wherever he’s been keeping it, Steve is trying not to mourn the fact that he may never get to wake up peacefully next to his best friend ever again.

                On the days when Winter wakes up and fades into Bucky, Laurel disappears neatly and Steve spends the day taking Bucky around _new New York_ as he calls it with a grin.  They both stubbornly insist that these outings aren’t dates, but Clint catches Steve buying Bucky ice cream in front of the tower one morning and snaps a quick picture to shove in his face later.  Some days Bucky even remembers that he had finally let himself kiss Steve, and those days they stay in bed.  On the mornings when Winter wakes up and stays Winter, Steve leaves with a deep ache in his chest and pain written in every line of his face while Laurel gets him dressed and they go down to the tower’s gun range, the only room that Winter is comfortable in.  Steve spends those days in the gym, routinely destroying the punching bags Tony has deemed ‘super soldier proof’ and avoiding the pitying glances of his teammates.

                They wake up one morning and Winter is muttering to himself, laid out perfectly still in the bed and repeating a string of numbers, over and over and over.  Laurel is immediately up, resting a hand on his flesh-and-blood arm with a steady, light pressure.

“It’s okay Winter, you’re safe.”  He begins to scream, body still perfectly still.  Steve is out of bed and kneeling next to him in a heartbeat, grabbing his shoulders and bending over him, trying to get him to focus.  “Winter?” Laurel asks, backing away.  He only screams louder.  Steve looks over at her and she catches his gaze, those bright blue eyes pleading with her to leave the room.  She does.  Steve holds Bucky as he curls in on himself, quieting down at the sound of Steve’s voice and clinging to him like a lost child.  An hour later Steve steps out into the hallway, leaving the door behind him open a crack and sitting in the hall with Laurel where they can hear the steady pressure of the shower.

“He woke up as Bucky today.” Laurel’s eyes widen.

“That’s good then isn’t it?”

“He woke up as the Bucky who woke up just after his fall, the one who woke up missing an arm and in Hydra’s hands.  Your voice, your accent, it set him off.”  Steve gives Laurel an apologetic look, but she nods in understanding and pushes a stray curl behind her ear.

“I guess a woman with a German accent is the last thing you want to hear when you’re waking up with the idea that you’ve been captured by Nazi scientists.”  Steve doesn’t need to nod, but he does, and takes one of Laurel’s hands in his.

“He’s going to be okay.  The three of us, we’ll figure this out.  We’ll both have him back someday, I’m sure of it.”

“You think that someday we’ll manage to have your best friend and my father together in the same person without ripping himself apart from the inside?”  Steve allows himself a grin.

“If anyone’s crazy enough to do it, it’s the three of us.” Laurel shoves him playfully at the dopey grin on his face.  Her grim expression slips back into place a moment later.

“Is today a new New York day, or a tower day?”  Steve sighs and rubs one hand tiredly across the back of his neck.

“I’m not sure.  I think I’ll start him in the tower, see if he’s adjusting well enough to the changes just in the room, and then if he’s okay with those hopefully he can handle going outside.”  Laurel nods and stands up.

“Good luck then Captain.” And she’s gone, evaporating like smoke into the air.  Steve lets out a small huff of fond irritation and walks back into the room.  Bucky is standing in the bathroom doorway, clutching a towel around his waist and has one hand tugging absently at his hair.  His gaze latches onto Steve immediately.

“I know where we are.  I know what happened to me.  I know who that girl was.”  Steve nods and picks up Bucky’s clothes from the floor, holding them out for the other man to grab.

“That’s good.  Did you want to see the city today?”  He shakes his head, cold water droplets flying from his long hair and landing on Steve.

“Draw me?”  It’s a shy request, spoken with his face hidden behind his dripping hair, but Steve beams brightly.  He hasn’t drawn Bucky in years.

“Absolutely!  Did you want to get dressed first?”  Bucky looks down at himself, as if realizing for the first time that he’s dripping water on the carpet and only wearing a towel.  He frowns, as if trying to remember something but he can’t quite get it.

“I think it’s okay that I don’t?” He phrases it like a question, which he does with a lot of things these days, and waits for Steve’s confirmation.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”  Bucky visibly relaxes, and Steve knows that in his head he’s filing away that information as ‘true and unimagined’ and goes to find his sketchbook and pencils while Bucky throws himself down in a chair, turned around so he can lazily rest his arms on the chair’s back and spread his legs wide over the seat.  Steve turns back around and has to quickly school his features into something more unsurprised.  Bucky sees right through him and flicks a toe at the abandoned towel on the floor.

“It was in the way.”

“I’ll say.” Bucky’s smug grin widens into something more amused and Steve pulls a chair opposite him, sitting down the normal way and propping his sketchbook on his crossed legs.  He spends the morning sketching Bucky, resting lazily across the chair and sitting on their balcony wrapped in Steve’s worn hoodie and smoking a cigarette, another sketch shows him tracing the outline of Steve’s shield on his metal arm with a flesh and blood finger and Bucky grins when he sees Steve watching him and recording the moment.  Another sketch is a close study of what Bucky’s metal fingers look like tangled with Steve’s fingers.  Sometime after noon Steve carefully suggests they take the opportunity to see more of the city, and Bucky surprisingly agrees.  Bucky’s a ball of energy while he waits for Steve to finish dressing and practically pulls him through the halls of the Avengers Tower.

“Buck you can slow down you know.”

“I have an idea.” He pulls Steve happily through the lobby and out into the city, the people walking by the tower give them little notice, for which Steve is thankful.  He lets Bucky pull him through the city, just taking in the warmth of the hand pulling at his and loving the excited grin on his best friend’s face.  When Steve sees where they’re going, he stops.

“Buck-”

“Come on Steve!” He pulls him inside and Steve can’t bring himself to be even the least bit annoyed with the playful grin on Bucky’s face.  “Hi, my friend and I would like some tattoos.” Steve groans at Bucky’s tone but meets the amused eyes of the woman behind the counter.

“Of course.  Do you know what you want?” Steve opens his mouth to protest but Bucky pulls a crumpled paper out of his pocket and hands it to the woman.

“In silver, on my wrist.”  Steve catches a glimpse of the crumpled drawing and wonders what Bucky’s up to.

“Sure, come on back then.” They follow the woman into a back room, and Bucky takes a seat in one of the chairs there.  Steve sits down next to him and the woman is back a minute later, snapping on a pair of gloves.

“What about you blondie?  You getting inked?”

“I don’t think so ma’am.  One is enough.” She raises an eyebrow in question and Bucky happily reaches over and pushes up Steve’s sleeve so she can see the words there.  She smiles and turns back to Bucky while she preps his wrist.

“Come on Steve, get one with me.  Think of when it gets out, Captain America, all inked up.”

“Do you still have that cross on your ass?” Bucky grimaces and Steve laughs.

“You know very well that it’s gone now.” He replies with a cheeky grin.  Steve leans forward and kisses him quickly.

“I’ve always hated that stupid grin of yours.”

“You love it and you know it.” Steve shrugs and takes Bucky’s left hand between both of his while the woman starts his tattoo.  They both watch in fascination as the silver lines of the design work into Bucky’s skin.

“You’ve got to have a crazy high pain tolerance, not so much as a flinch.” She comments absently, intent on her work.  Steve squeezes Bucky’s hand tighter when he stills, and presses a kiss to his cheek.

“He’s strong, that’s for sure.”

                He’s not entirely sure how, but twenty minutes later Steve finds their positions switched and Bucky is grinning like a madman as he writes the string of numbers and letters across Steve’s left hip.  The woman waits, a small smile on her face, and then steps forwards to turn Bucky’s scribbles into a tattoo for him.

“I can’t believe you got that.” Steve’s eyes betray him, shining up at Bucky as if he’s the only thing in the world that matters, which truly, he is.  Bucky lets out a short huff of laughter and inspects the tattoo on his wrist.  The stylized wing that has adorned Steve’s mask since World War II shines back at him in the silver ink.  He shrugs.

“I needed a reminder that I’m my own again.” Steve nods in understanding and reaches out for Bucky’s hand, which he offers easily.  “You’re the dumbass who gets whatever I scribble on you turned into a tattoo.” Steve tries not to laugh, and manages a wide smile.

“What can I say Buck, I’m a bit too fond of you.”

“How long have you two been together?” The woman asks, finishing the first grouping of letters and numbers and moving on to the next.

“Our whole lives.” Bucky replies without hesitation.  Steve blushes, which is seriously ridiculous he decides, and is glad that the woman is so intent on her work so she doesn’t see the way his whole neck and chest flush with his face.

“Could I ask what the coordinates lead to?”

“It’s our old apartment in Brooklyn, got through a lot of hard times there together.” Steve answered quickly.  He recognized the troublesome glint in Bucky’s eyes and had to stop him from making up something ridiculous in an effort to make Steve blush harder.

“That’s sweet.”

“He’s a total sap it’s true.” Bucky replies.  Steve hits him jokingly in the leg and Bucky only grins wider.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs

The next morning Bucky and Steve are sitting at breakfast, Bucky grumbling about being awake so early and propping his legs up in Steve’s lap.  For his part, Steve contains his fond grin and goes about eating his breakfast in silence.  He finishes his toast and takes a quick sip of milk before kissing Bucky quickly to shut him up.

“You talk too much Buck.”  Bucky smirks as Steve goes back to his breakfast.

“Maybe I talk so much cause I know you’ll shut me up.”  Steve grins around a mouthful of eggs and playfully shoves Bucky’s shoulder.  Bucky smirks over at him and sinks further into his chair, closing his eyes.  Tony picks that moment to walk into the room and casually slides his tablet over to Steve.  It’s open to a social media site, displaying a cell phone picture of Steve on his morning run, wearing a tank top and sweats, and his tattoo is faintly readable.

“Gossip sites are all about Captain America on his morning run with his cryptic tattoo.”  Bucky opens one eye to peek at Tony, and Steve only shrugs.

“If my tattoos are keeping stories about you out of the paper, then I’ll gladly show them off.” Tony sticks his tongue out at Steve.

“You’re pretty rude for America’s golden boy Rogers.”  Bucky laughs aloud, turning to Tony and trying to speak through his laughter.

“Golden boy?  Oh god you don’t know him at all.  _Golden boy,_ Jesus Stark, they said you were a genius.”  Tony pours himself a cup of coffee and shrugs.

“America’s golden boy, not mine.  I think he’s an ass.”  Bucky laughs and Steve scowls into his glass of milk.

“He’s certainly got a great ass.” Bucky adds and Steve flushes bright red.  Tony lifts his mug to Bucky and takes a sip of the bitter coffee.

“Remind me again, when’re you gonna get on that?” Steve practically chokes on his eggs and Bucky grins and winks at Tony.

“More fun to keep you in the dark Stark.”  Tony clicks his tongue and shakes his head in disappointment.

“They aren’t exactly the best liars though.” Laurel comments as she walks into the kitchen and rummages through the cupboard for a bowl and a box of cereal.  She groans when she runs out of cereal well before she has a full bowl.  “Tony you can’t keep another box of cereal around?”  He shrugs lazily and Laurel sits down, head on the bar.  Bucky laughs and pulls his feet off of Steve’s lap before standing up and stretching tiredly.

“You want me to run down to the store and get you another box sweetie?”  Laurel grins and lets out a huff of laughter.

“Sure daddy-o.  Just a box of Wheaties, my wallet’s on the bedside table.” Tony perks up at that.

“ _The_ bedside table?  As in the three of you are sharing a bed?”

“So?  Sometimes Bucky’s Bucky, and sometimes Bucky’s Winter.  Winter needs me, and Bucky needs Steve.  It’s not ideal but it works.”

“I can send up a bigger bed, you guys must be squished.” Steve speaks up immediately.

“We’re good.  Thanks.”  Bucky grins.

“Stevie likes having two Barnes assassins curled up right against him.”  He blushes and Laurel raises her head from the bar to grin over at him.

“He _loves_ it and won’t admit it.”  Steve lets out an amused huff and stands up.

“I’ll get your cereal Lou.” Bucky follows him out with a satisfied smirk and Tony leans against the bar across from Laurel and waits for the door to close behind them before he begins his new line of questioning.

“What’s the status on the bet?”

“Tony, you know how you can’t get Natasha to reveal anything if she doesn’t want to?” He sighs and nods reluctantly, knowing exactly what Laurel’s getting at.

“So you won’t say anything, but at least settle this bet.  You and Steve, that a thing?”  Laurel looks up at the inventor and grins.

“Only a few times, but yeah.  So who wins that bet?”  He grins widely.

“Me.” They both laugh, and Laurel leans back on her barstool with a satisfied grin.  Tony opens his mouth to ask another question but Laurel cuts him off.

“Yes.  Surprisingly good.” Tony smirks.

“Good for Capsicle.”

                Two blocks away Steve and Bucky are walking lazily to the store for Laurel’s cereal.  Tepid metal touches Steve’s right hand and without thinking about it he takes the hand in his, locking their fingers together with a smile.  It’s just a small general store, but Bucky takes his time trying to find the right cereal.  Steve follows him, a fond smile locked on his face as Bucky carefully makes sure he gets exactly what she asked for.

“Buck, Wheaties aren’t that hard to find.” Steve finally comments.  Bucky huffs in fond irritation and Steve looks up, just realizing that he didn’t even know where they were, he was too focused on what Bucky’s metal hand looked like holding his.  Bucky’s got a box of Wheaties tucked under one arm and is looking at the simple flowers the store sells.

“Thought Laurel might want some flowers in the room, brighten it up a bit?”  Steve leans forward and kisses him, happily and slowly, one hand on the side of his face and teasing at Bucky’s bottom lip for a moment before pulling away with a loving smile.

“God Buck, I think I might love you.”  Bucky’s smug grin settles onto his face.

“I think quick blowjobs while Laurel is out was a good enough indicator, but thanks Stevie, I think I love you too.”  Steve is bright red and Bucky is grinning, pulling him closer to press a quick kiss to his warm lips.

“I really do love you Buck.”

“You gonna marry me soldier?” Bucky joked with a sly grin.

“If you’ll let me.” Bucky froze, caught in his jest, Steve just smiled and kissed him.  “C’mon Buck, marry me?”  The hand in his was completely still, the occasional twitch squeezing Steve’s hand.  “We can do that now Buck.  This century is totally okay with it, with us.”  Bucky is backing up slightly now, flowers forgotten in his hand and a slightly panicked look in his eyes.

“Steve, you’re Captain America, and I’m an amnesiac communist assassin who wakes up some mornings and tries to kill you.  This can’t work and we both know it.”

“Buck we can work through all of this, we can make this work.”

“Steve, we aren’t going to get married and spend the rest of our lives with my daughter who _I don’t remember some days_ sleeping between us like a barrier so _I don’t accidentally kill you.”_

                Steve let out a short huff and picked up the flowers and the box of cereal and paid, holding Bucky’s hand stiffly in his.  They made their way back to the tower in tense silence.  Tony and Laurel both pretended not to notice the tension between the pair when they made it back to the tower, and the rest of breakfast was finished in silence while Steve stalked off to take a shower.

“He’s pissed.” Bucky finally speaks up.  Laurel sets her spoon in her bowl and turns to him, Tony sits up on his stool, giving the ex-assassin his complete attention.

“What’d you fight about at the store?” Bucky sighs.

“I want to talk about it, but I really don’t.”

“I get that.  Well we’re here if you change your mind.” Tony replies.  Bucky nods his thanks and gets up to leave, grabbing Laurel’s hand and gently tugging.  She gets up and follows, holding to him with a reassuring pressure.

                Bedtime is unnervingly quiet and tense, and Laurel can practically feel the anger radiating from both Steve and Bucky, and the sorrow flowing beneath it.  Bucky is Bucky again the next morning, and remembers much of what the Winter Soldier remembers, and by eight Laurel is gone.

O.O

                It’s been three weeks, Bucky has stabilized with most of the Winter Soldier’s memories and all of Bucky’s, he and Steve spend every day stewing in their uncomfortable tension, and Laurel hasn’t been seen or heard from at all.  Tony has Jarvis running facial recognition worldwide, a Herculean task, but like the good assassin she was trained to be, there’s no trace of her to be found.  Increasing reports of factory fires and electrical malfunctions in old office buildings show up in online news, and the residents of the tower pretend it has nothing to do with Laurel.  When a burned out factory is found with the mutilated corpses of known Hydra employees inside, not far from where Bucky had fallen during the war, they are forced to accept that Laurel is behind it.

“We have to do something about it.” Steve announces over breakfast one morning.  Five pairs of eyes settle on him for a silent moment before Clint speaks up.

“She’s cleaning house Cap, it’s good for her, emotionally and psychologically.” The archer reasons, Natasha nods her agreement while Bruce shakes his head.

“She needs a better outlet.  It’s not healthy to just kill the people who have wronged you.” Steve puts his head in his hands and takes a deep, shaky breath.

“I’ve been so caught up in getting Bucky back and helping him deal with what’s happened that I completely forgot what Hydra did to Laurel.  Fuck.”  Steve curses angrily.  Bucky rests a hand on his back and rubs small circles with his thumb.

“She loves fiercely Steve, and will do anything for the few people who hold that love.  She’s pushed aside dealing with her own past to deal with mine, and now that I’m generally stable she can confront her own demons.”

“She needs us, all of us.” Steve decides.  He directs his gaze to Natasha, who matches it calmly and shrugs.

“If she’s after Hydra, I’m with her.”

“We all are.” Tony adds.  Bruce sighs heavily.

“If this is turning into some sort of team vendetta, I guess I can come along for the ride.” He concedes.  Clint grins.

“Avengers finally have shit to avenge!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, it was just really fighting me, and somehow ended up leading to an 'Avengers are coming for Hydra' storyline instead of Steve and Bucky continuing to be idiots and making the rest of the team uncomfortable. But there will be lots of that, always.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs.  
> Sorry this took so long to write and post! I'm away from home so I've been typing it up little bit by little bit on my tablet over the last two weeks, crazy busy schedule, but I'm already working on the next chapter so it shouldn't be so long between chapters! Thanks for reading!

It’s easy enough for Bucky to work his way into underground intelligence networks in Europe, chasing the last sighting of Laurel.  The intelligence community that hadn’t believed in his existence until recently now knew only that he was a ghost hunting the shadow of a ghost.  Where these underground networks point, Bucky chases after with the Avengers in tow.  Laurel caught on easily, and when the group followed after the whispers of her, she began to leave Hydra agents for them, tied up and waiting with notes pinned to them.  The first one reads _stop following me_ and is pinned through the ear of a bound and gagged agent.  The second one is stuck to the forehead of an unconscious woman in a burned out Hydra facility, the words _fuck off, I need to do this_ in a messy scrawl, blood drops spattered across the paper.  Clint laughs at the smiley-face sticker keeping the note on the woman’s forehead and comments on Laurel’s twisted sense of humor.

“We don’t need to chase her anymore, we can hunt down Hydra on our own and we’ll probably run into her eventually.” Tony suggests.

“She won’t be found if she doesn’t want to be.  It makes sense to stop looking.” Bruce agreed.

O.O

                It’s everywhere.  News channels, gossip sites, social media, magazines, even a paper or two.  The Avengers are spotted all over the world, and occasionally a picture surfaces of a strange man with long, dark hair acting as a shadow to Captain America.  After a week and a half the media slows down, there are less sightings as the team gets more used to staying off the grid, and they only occasionally run into the messes Laurel has made of Hydra facilities.

“She’s not exactly keen on cleaning up her messes is she?” Sam asks as they pick their way through the blood-soaked hallways of a hidden Hydra base.  Steve is picking his way through the trail of corpses she’s left in the hall and Bucky is right behind him, his Winter Soldier aspects surging with a sense of fatherly pride at her accomplishment.

“Buck, you look way too proud of this.” Steve comments as he pushes aside a man with this throat slashed open.  Tony looks away from the mess and over to Bucky, who is pushing down the proud grin on his face and trying to look as disgusted as the rest of the team.

“I can’t help it, Winter appreciates her work, and I can’t help but be proud of her for doing her job well.  So maybe it’s not a conventional job that she does well, but she does it well.”  Clint raised an eyebrow as if considering the notion and then shrugged his shoulders and pushed past the group to open the door at the end of the hall.  It leads into a dark room, with a heavy steel table and two turned over chairs and three bodies lying on the floor.  The team steps in behind Clint and one of the bodies stirs, they all tense and watch as the body stands up and wipes some of the blood from its face.  It’s Laurel, wearing a dark green Hydra catsuit and drenched in blood.  Her hair is matted and tangled and she pushes it out of her face with a hand covered in a bloody and ripped leather glove.

“Figured I’d wait for you guys this time.  I’m ready to come back.” Bucky pushes through the group and grabs Laurel by the shoulders, staring at her bruised and cut up skin before pulling her into a tight hug.

“I’m guessing that James Barnes and the Winter Soldier have combined beautifully now?” She asks with a grin.

“Sort of.” Steve answers for Bucky.  Bucky tightens around Laurel and she hugs him back, burying her face in his shoulder where warm flesh meets cool metal.

“I’m sorry.  They had wanted to upgrade me since I was a kid, but SHIELD and Hydra began to fall before they did it.”  She pulled away from Bucky and rolled up the legs of her catsuit.  Both legs ended just above her knees and continued in shoddy prosthetics.

“I figure I’d be more of a help to the team this way.  I let them think I was coming back to work for them, let them upgrade me, but I freaked out and killed the team before they made my metal legs, so I’ve got the temporary prosthetics.”  She rolls up the sleeve on her right arm to show them her shoulder, where a burn is healing in the shape of Hydra’s stylized symbol.  “They branded me too.”

“Lou-“

“I don’t want your sympathy or your pity Steve.  I chose this.”

“Well then let’s go home, I for one, can’t wait to get back to Stark wifi.” Tony announced.

O.O

                The Tower is unchanged, but Laurel asks Tony for her own room on the same floor as Steve and Bucky’s.  She moves her clothes out of their room and into her new room, and doesn’t come out of the room except to get a bagel in the morning and a cup of microwave noodles every night.  After a week, Natasha brings it up over lunch.

“She’s depressed.  She said that she let them ‘upgrade’ her, but I think she was overwhelmed.  They took her by force.  She needs our support.” Bruce nods along with her and Clint voices his agreement with a tired raising of his glass of juice.

                That night Steve visits Laurel in her new room.  She’s sitting in the middle of her massive bed, staring out the window with a blank expression on her face.  She’s sitting on top of the blankets and is wearing a tank top and cotton shorts so Steve can see the design of her simple prosthetics that Tony hasn’t finished replacing and the Hydra symbol burned onto her right shoulder.  He sits down carefully next to her.

“Lou, you okay?” She doesn’t respond, just continues to stare out the window, so Steve picks up the tv remote from the bedside table and turns the large flat screen on.  Tony has the tv hooked up to access just about anything, and Steve quickly finds himself flipping through the animated Disney movies, closing his eyes and clicking on one at random.  It’s a fairly new one, Brave, and Steve settles in to watch.  After a few minutes, Laurel’s eyes shift from the window to the screen and after a few more minutes she allows herself to lean back against the headboard.  A few more minutes and she lets Steve silently rest his head on her shoulder.  They sit in silence, watching the movie, and right after the queen is transformed into a bear, the door opens quietly and Bucky walks in.  He settles in on Laurel’s other side and she hesitantly curls into his side.

                One movie after another, Steve, Laurel, and Bucky catch up on the Disney movies they’ve missed in the last few decades.  Steve let himself cry over The Princess and the Frog, and Bucky tried not to let anyone see him crying over The Fox and The Hound, while Laurel watched blankly.  After their fourth movie, Steve glanced up from where he’d settled with his head in Laurel’s lap and caught a shadow of a smile on her face and looked over to Bucky, who was curled against her side and watching her expression thaw instead of watching the movie.  They fell asleep watching Peter Pan and that was how Sam found them when the rest of the team pushed him down the hall to check on them.  Three genetically engineered soldiers out-of-time curled up together, two of them drooling, while Peter Pan played in the background.

“Figures.” He whispered to himself as he picked the remote off the bed and turned off the movie.  Laurel stirred beneath a mess of limbs and Sam froze, but she settled back down and he was able to sneak quietly out of the room to report back to the waiting team.

“They fell asleep watching Peter Pan.” Clint lets out a derisive snort and Natasha grins.

“If any Disney movie could apply perfectly to those three, it’s that one.” Tony comments absently.

“Did Laurel seem any better?” Bruce asked.  Sam shrugged.

“Hard to tell, she was out cold.  But she was curled up with Steve and Bucky, drooling unattractively on Bucky’s shoulder so I think she’s doing better.” Bruce nods in thanks.

“If she’s feeling a little better, I’m gonna turn in for the night.” He gives a small wave to the team and pads off quietly to his room.

                The next morning Laurel wakes up with Steve and Bucky, and climbs out of bed and sneaks down to Tony’s lab.  Bruce is awake, sitting at one of the tables and running through a series of algorithms that Jane had sent over from her lab in New Mexico.  Laurel steps in quietly and takes a seat next to Bruce, who silently accepts her calm presence next to his.

“So I know you’re not the mechanic here, but do you have any idea what the status is on my legs?  I’m getting pretty tired of these shit temporary ones Hydra gave me.  They were really only meant to keep me mobile for training and reintegration into the program while they finished my real legs.”  Bruce glances over at her before nodding and crossing to Tony’s side of the lab.  Two metal shells in the shape of Laurel’s legs are sitting on his main desk.

“My right leg is pretty out of alignment, think you could help me over?  I just want to see what he’s done so far.”

“Of course.”  Bruce crossed back and let Laurel lean heavily on his shoulder while he led her over to Tony’s table.  He helped her pull herself up onto the table and Laurel ran her fingers over the cool metal tiles that made up her right leg.

“It’s amazing.  Looks just like my legs did before, but you know, made of metal tiles.” Bruce grins at her attempt at humor and sits down on Tony’s stool.

“I’m thinking he’s got the basic frames done, probably needs to work on the weight balance and getting the neurological system working and hooked to yours.  I’ll be helping him with that part, so it might be a few more days.”

“Winter only ever had basic feeling in his left arm, did you figure out how to fix that?”  Her brow was furrowed at the thought of it and Bruce gave an encouraging nod.

“The circuitry system in his arm wasn’t exactly up to date.  Tony and I figured out how to give him more feeling, so we can use the same thing on your legs.”  The door to the lab slid open and Tony stepped in, cup of coffee in one hand and newspaper in the other, bright red robe falling off one shoulder as he suppressed a yawn.

“The prodigal daughter returns!” He grinned as he casually pushed Bruce off his stool and took a seat.  Bruce settled Tony with a fond glare and pulled up another stool.

“Checking up on me to see how your legs are coming along?”

“Yeah, these Hydra temporaries are kinda fucked up.”  Tony nodded and picked up the left leg.

“Well let’s make sure these fit then before Bruce and I get going on the inner workings.”  Laurel lifted up her left leg and Tony fitted the prosthetic onto her remaining leg.  A blue light came up from the table and began to scan her leg.

“Jarvis will find any parts that aren’t fitting properly and I’ll get to work fixing them.  Since you’re down here, do you have any requests for your legs?”

“I want housing in my legs for guns, knives, or extra clips.  I’m not going anywhere unprepared ever again.” Bruce’s face fell at her implication that she’d been unprepared for that last Hydra facility and Tony paused while securing her right leg.  Laurel looked around at them and sighed.  “I’m not that delicate, you don’t need to tiptoe around me.  I get that I just spent a week locked in my room not talking to anyone but I’m really okay now.”

“So what’s your favorite Disney movie?” Tony asked when he finished her right leg.  Laurel began to laugh loudly and stopped only to tell him that it was “Peter Pan for sure.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs. So a weirdly painful chapter to write (and probably read, sorry guys!) but I think from here on out we're going to have a lot more of Steve and Bucky being idiots in love now that a lot of the (heavier?) stuff is written out and sorta weirdly wrapped up. Anyway, fun to write, and thanks for reading!

It’s three days until Tony announces loudly over breakfast that Laurel’s legs are finished.  She looks up from her bowl of cereal and stares at the inventor, who smiles encouragingly.

“Could someone help me down then?” Bucky and Steve jump up immediately and Bucky swings Laurel over his shoulder with a grin.  Steve walks next to them as they follow Tony down to his main lab.  Bucky deposits Laurel on the lab table and Steve helps her take off her temporary prosthetics while Tony and Bruce run final checks on her new legs.  The groups sits in silence as Tony works to attach Laurel’s new legs.  A half hour passes before he deems them ready for trial.

“You should be good to go Laurel, try standing up.”  Bruce helps Laurel stand and holds out a hand for her to grab if she starts to falls.  She stands carefully in one spot, as if afraid to move, before taking a cautious step forward towards Bruce.  She grins at the steadiness of her step and takes another.  Soon she’s walking in circles around Tony’s lab, a large grin on her face.  She begins to run, then pops a button on her right knee cap and a panel opens in the side of her calf.  She grabs the gun quickly and rolls into a kneeling stance, gun trained on Dummy across the lab.  With a breathless smile she puts the gun away again and rejoins the group.

“They’re perfect.  I love them.” She pulls Tony and then Bruce into tight hugs, and they hug her back readily.  Steve and Bucky are grinning at her when she lets them go.

“Wanna spar?” Bucky asks.  Laurel nods, vibrating with excitement.

O.O

_six years earlier_

                The target was in her sights, walking determinedly down the street as he made his way to work.  From two hundred feet back, hidden in a crowd of office-bound New Yorkers, Laurel followed casually, smoking a cigarette and pretending to check the stock market on her phone.  The man turned into his office building and Laurel put out her cigarette and followed, scanning a false security card and stepping into the elevator with him.  They were alone in the elevator and he looked up from where he had been frowning at the morning’s headline of the Wall Street Journal to give her a quick nod.  She gave him a soft smile in return before kicking his knees from under him and slamming him onto the floor.

“What the fuck?!” Laurel pulled back a balled fist and struck him across the face, blood began to pour from his broken nose.  He struggled against her, fighting with strong arms to push her off and kicking his legs in an attempt to hit her.  Laurel struck him again, hard, and he faltered for a moment before grabbing her hair and trying to pull her off of him.  She wrapped a hand around his neck and began to squeeze.  The hand in her hair spasmed and fell away to scrabble for purchase on the second hand now around his neck.  His face was turning purple as his struggles grew weaker, and with a final hard squeeze the man went limp.  Laurel held on a second longer for good measure before standing up and dusting herself off, wiping her bloody knuckles on the mans’ coat. 

                The elevator stopped and Laurel pulled her guns from their holsters on her back beneath her jacket and waited.  The doors slid open to a busy office and she stepped off the elevator purposefully and strode towards the far end of the floor.  Someone screamed, noticing the body in the elevator and she turned around and shot.  The scream stopped, but more began.  More shots, and now running.  She kicked open the door at the end of the hall and shot the woman at the desk.

“Both targets eliminated.  Begin retreat.” She spoke into her earpiece.

“Affirmative.  Extraction two blocks west, black Honda.”

“Copy.” She ran through the halls, heading for the emergency stairs.  Running feet followed her, one set.  She ducked behind a corner and fired.  A low grunt reached her ears but the man followed.  Laurel continued to run, making it to the stairs and jumping down as the man following her shot off a round at her.  A sharp pain tore through her right calf but she ran on, ignoring her pursuer until he shot again, hitting her left thigh.  She groaned in pain but pressed on, reaching the bottom of the stairs and throwing the door open.  The door slammed closed quickly but she waited, hidden behind the curve of the landing as the man stepped down the stairs, clutching his gun in one hand and his shooting arm in the other as blood flowed down his arm.  Laurel jumped out, hitting the man squarely in the chest with two heavy slugs and watching him fall before she limped out into the back alley and towards her extraction point.

                Her handlers weren’t happy.  She was lying on the operation table in the old bank vault, numb from the pain of the bullets in her legs as they talked above her.  She blinked rapidly to try to bring her handlers into focus as one of them rested a hand on her shoulder.  He turned back to the others as she struggled to make sense of the world around her.

“She’s lost too much blood, I said we should’ve stopped the bleeding immediately!”

“She’s fine, the legs needed to be upgraded anyway, now we have an excuse.” Laurel was vaguely aware of the appearance of another group of handlers, ones she recognized from her joint missions with the one they called the Asset.  She remembered calling him Winter, remembered seeing him as a child, learning from him, seeking out his targets for him.  Winter’s handlers had a rapid, quiet discussion with hers, and before she blacked out from the blood loss she was aware of a tall man with shaggy dark hair and a metallic arm bursting into the room and strangling one of her handlers as his tried to subdue him.

“You’re not hurting her!  Leave her be!”  He threw another one of her handlers across the room before she blacked out entirely.

                When she woke up, Pierce was standing over her, a light scowl on his face.  When he saw she was awake, he dismissed the rest of her handlers quickly.

“Now Frost, you finished your mission, but you were shot twice, so you’ve failed me.  I’ve decided to give you another chance, we’ve invested enough in you that we’re going to get our time’s worth.  They’ve fixed up your legs, but the next time, they’ll be upgraded.  Is that clear?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.  Now we’re going to put you on ice, and when you wake up, I’ve got a special mission for you, and you aren’t going to disappoint me again.”

“What happened to Winter?” Pierce stared at her, expression grim, but gave her a twisted half-grin when he replied.

“The Asset has been wiped and put away.  You’ll see him on your next op, no worries.  Now sleep.”

                It was four years before she woke up next.  The first thing she looked for in her panic was Winter, but the cryo tank next to hers was still operational, Winter’s paused face peeking through the small window on the front, one metallic finger showing at the edge of the window where he had subconsciously tried to reach her when they put him away, the same as every time before.  Pierce walked into the room as her breathing was slowing back to normal after her initial panic at her defrost and handed her a thick folder.

“This is your assignment.  Don’t fail me.  You know what will happen if you do.”  She nodded, she knew what would happen, he’d threatened it before.  The one thing she cared about in this world was Winter, and he knew that.  Years ago, before her first op, he’d told her that failure meant death, but death at the hands of a newly wiped Asset.  She wasn’t about to risk that.

                They dropped her off in front of what was to be her new apartment building.  The folder detailed a long term op, and her cover for the assignment.  She walked into the furnished apartment on the second floor and sat down carefully at the kitchen table to finish reading through the details on her assignment.  She had an interview with SHIELD in the morning, Pierce needed her close at hand and in a position to gather intel where he wouldn’t be compromised if she was caught. It was laughably easy to be accepted into SHIELD, with the background Hydra had built for her and her own disregard for the truth, she had passed their entrance tests with flying colors and was immediately set to become a field agent.

                When SHIELD fell and tried to take Hydra with it, Laurel was lost and furious, searching out Winter everywhere.  He’d gone down with one of the Helicarriers, but she refused to believe it had killed him.  She was running from SHIELD and to Steve on Winter's advice when Natasha’s bullet ripped through her stomach and set her on a path away from anything she had ever known.

O.O

_currently_

                Laurel brought her knee up into Steve’s stomach, and he grunted in pain before lashing out and catching her with one strong arm, bringing her down on the sparring mat.  Her entire body ached from the match, and her nose was dripping blood steadily, but she grinned at Steve and he grinned back as she hooked her ankles around his and flipped them over, pinning him to the mat with a knife hovering above his throat.

“So I win?” Steve managed to knock the knife out of her hand and rolled over her, his right forearm bearing down heavily on her throat.

“I think I do.” Laurel made to shove him off but suddenly he was being pulled away by a strong metal hand and Laurel stood up, steady on her new legs, and watched as Bucky and Steve took to exchanging and blocking blows.  After a moment Bucky caught Steve by the waist and kissed him with a grin.  He pulled away and Steve scowled playfully.

“You have a weakness for Barnes assassins Rogers, admit it.” Bucky teases.  Steve shoots Laurel a mocking grin and kisses Bucky back, a semi-serious frown on his face.

“Fucking Barnes assassins.” He complains as Bucky tries to steal another kiss.

“That is something we both know you love.” Laurel comments.  Steve blushes bright red as both Bucky and Laurel dissolve into uncontrollable laughter.

“How did you-?” He begins to ask Bucky, too embarrassed to finish his question.

“Steve you wouldn’t look me in the eyes when she was around for like a week.  You’re not hard to figure.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No.” Steve breathes a sigh of relief and lets Bucky pull him into a tight hug.  A warm presence behind him and two skinny arms wrapping around his waist from behind tells him that Laurel has joined the unusual display of affection.

“You’re awfully cuddly today Lou.” Steve comments.  The presence behind him retreats quickly but not before she sharply pinches his ass and Bucky bursts into laughter at his surprised yelp.

O.O

“You don’t remember it, do you?” Laurel and Bucky are sitting together in the living room, she has her legs draped across his lap and he’s tracing the edges of her metal tiles with his flesh hand.  He looks up at her question.

“Remember what?”

“My last assignment.  The one before you were sent after the Captain and I was sent after SHIELD as a whole.” Something flashes in Bucky’s eyes and he quickly turns away, shaking his head.  His hand moves away from her legs and Laurel pulls them under her, sitting up and watching Bucky as he tries to control his breathing.  She rests a tentative hand on his left shoulder and counts it as a good sign that he doesn’t push her away.

“I know it’s difficult, but please don’t lie to me Bucky.  I was blind from the pain and I just want to know if I’m remembering what you’re remembering.  Please.” Bucky gave a deep sigh and glanced over at the other couch, where Clint was draped around Natasha and both were resolutely watching the tv screen, trying to give Laurel and Bucky their privacy without drawing attention.

“My last freeze before they sent me after the SHIELD Director.  I remember they were doing something to you.  They were hurting you.  You’d come back from a mission, you were hurt.  Your handlers were doing something to you.  I think I killed your handlers?” He finally meets Laurel’s eyes and catches the forming tears she’s trying to ignore.  She nods.

“That’s what I remember really.  I’d been shot a few times on an assignment.  They brought me back to freeze but wanted to upgrade my legs.  You showed up, back from your assignment, and ran in.  I blacked out from blood loss after you killed two of my handlers.  When I woke up, Pierce told me I’d failed but he would have mercy, they’d invested too much in me.  You were already in your tank, they’d wiped you while I was out.”  Bucky pulls Laurel into a comforting hug, realizing for the first time that while he survived Hydra and has a life before and after them, Laurel was raised Hydra and is only now trying to figure out how to stand without them.  He rubs one hand soothingly down her back.

“We’re safe now Frost.  Safe.” He doesn’t know where the words come from, isn’t really sure why Laurel makes sense as Frost, but she hugs him tighter and replies into his shoulder.

“Thank you Winter.” And for once, the association with the Winter Soldier feels like he’s done something right.  He raised this girl as the Winter Soldier, and if the Winter Soldier could contribute to something so determined to fix everything in her past and so determined to find the righteous path and stick to it, then maybe more of Bucky Barnes survived in the Winter Soldier than Hydra had thought.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs

Natasha is the first to suggest it.  Bruce endorses it.  Tony complains that Bruce “isn’t that sort of doctor” but agrees.  Sam agrees with Natasha about the therapeutic “debriefing” of the idea.  Clint shows up for breakfast in lederhosen.  Steve consents first, then Bucky after some persuasion, and finally Laurel wears down and agrees.  So the next day the team finds themselves stepping onto the tarmac of a small airport in Germany.

“You said we’re staying in a small town right?” Bucky asked as they walked through the airport with their suitcases.  Tony nodded.

“Small town, it’s got a nice swim park and a bakery and there’s some shopping if you want to walk into the larger town and then you can take a train into the city if you want.  It’ll be fun and therapeutic, I promise.” Tony replied.  Bucky nodded in response.

                They stay in a four bedroom town house towards the end of a small neighbor that’s backed up into the forest.  Tony stands in the entryway and calls out room assignments.

“Legolas and Widow, Capsicle and Freezerburn, Wings with me, and Anger Issues and Hydra.”  Clint and Natasha claim the largest bedroom, Steve and Bucky take the bedroom with a balcony, Sam and Tony take the bedroom with the connected bathroom, and Bruce and Laurel take the bedroom with the satellite television.

                They play a lot of card games, too many board games, and watch a whole season of Mythbusters before Bucky, Steve, and Laurel agree to try to experience the new Germany.  Steve quickly falls in love with the shops and the people, Bucky loves the cafes and bakeries, and Laurel wants to spend the rest of her life in the swim park.

“Wasn’t I right when I told her she’d look awful in a bikini?” Steve asks the team jokingly when Natasha steps into the largest pool with them.

“She looks horrible, absolutely horrible.” Clint teases and earns himself a splash in the face.  Laurel jumps in from the side and is promptly scolded by a lifeguard over the splash she’s made.

“Laurel looks even worse in a bikini!” Tony decides.  She grins and stands up in the water, making a show of her scarred stomach and her metallic legs.

“I look brilliant I know.”  Bucky grabs her from behind and dunks her playfully with a grin and soon the team is fighting like children.  Tony is sitting on Sam’s shoulders and Natasha is on Clint’s and they’ve started a game of chicken in the deeper parts of the pool.  Steve and Bucky are watching Bruce and Laurel run up the stairs to the slides, shoving each other and shouting the whole way.  Bucky has his fingers tangled in Steve’s as they drift slowly through the lazy river on the edge of the pool complex.  Every time they pass behind the large pillar in the middle of the circular lazy river Bucky pulls Steve in for a quick kiss and they emerge from behind the pillar filled with laughter.

“Better than the last time we were here?” Bucky asks absently.  Steve thinks of the last time he was here, with Loki struggling to pull innocents under his control, and the time before that, fighting for humanity with Bucky next to him, and yes, this is so much better.

“Definitely better.” He kisses Bucky again though they haven’t passed behind the pillar yet and from the pool next to them they hear Clint whoop in triumph and look over to see the whole team grinning at them.

“Bruce said a month, he’s closest then.” Tony concedes.  Natasha grins from her position atop Clint’s shoulders and pushes Tony off of Sam’s.  He lands with a loud splash and comes up with a bemused glare.

“Actually I’ll be taking the pot today.” Laurel grins from the side of the pool.  Everyone’s attention turns to the grinning brunette.  “Months ago when we placed the bets I said ‘instead of dinner’ and was regrettably right.”

“Regrettably?” Sam asks.  Everyone turns back to Steve and Bucky.  Bucky is trying to keep a straight face and Steve is blushing furiously from his hair to his shorts.  Bucky breaks when he sees Steve’s full body blush and bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

“What the hell Buck?!” Bucky keeps laughing as Steve grabs him and attempts to dunk him under the water.  He holds Steve off as he laughs.

“Oh god Stevie she walked right in and you didn’t even notice!”  The rest of the team is laughing now, to Steve’s despair, and he blushes a deeper red.  He makes a grab for Bucky, who can’t seem to stop laughing, and Bucky pulls him into an open mouthed kiss as Steve tries in vain to dunk him again.  Tony grabs one of Laurel’s ankles and pulls her into the pool and soon the whole team is fighting and splashing and laughing and eventually one of the lifeguards has to ask them to leave.

                They walk slowly through the small town, stopping to look in stores and buy pretzels when Clint complains that they aren’t feeding him enough.  Natasha rides on Sam’s shoulders for a while and Clint pretends to pout about it, so Sam puts her down and waits for Clint to pick her up.  Instead, Clint jumps on Sam and wraps his legs around his shoulders, letting out a happy yell and shouting for Sam to run.  Natasha shakes her head in amusement and gives Sam a kiss on the cheek, a true smile gracing her face.

“He’s actually four.” She tells Sam, and one of Clint’s feet swings out to clip Natasha playfully on the shoulder.

“You love me though.” She doesn’t reply, but Sam doesn’t miss the amused quirk of her lips or the way she walks a little taller.  Tony and Bruce are walking a few steps in front of them, watching Laurel and Bucky tease Steve good-naturedly in front of them.  Laurel stops suddenly, staring at a restaurant across the street.  The team stops around her.

“Lou?” Steve asks, resting a hand gently on her shoulder.

“I know that place.  Best spaetlze I’ve ever had.” She has a faraway look in her eyes until Bucky takes one of her hands in his and starts to walk across the street.

“Let’s get dinner then.”  The team follows, crossing the street quickly and ducking into the small restaurant.  Clint reluctantly climbs down from Sam’s shoulders and wraps an arm around Natasha’s waist and gives a bright grin to Sam before following Bruce to their table.  Laurel is sitting next to Bucky and looking around like she can almost place where this place fits in her life.  A waiter comes to take their order and freezes when he catches sight of Laurel.

“Amy?” He asks, confusion and a hint of hope coloring his face.  Laurel glances over at Bucky, who shrugs, before she turns to the man, expression screwed up in concentration as she obviously tries to remember him.

“Entschuldigung, mein Gedaechtnis ist nicht das, was es frueher war.  Wie heiβt du?“ The man’s face fell slightly as he took in her words, she didn’t remember him, didn’t know who he was.

“Jakob.  Jakob Praunwald.”  Laurel froze, she knew that name, and looked back up at the man.  She knew those insistent hazel eyes and knew that disappointed face and that unruly blond hair and his sunburnt skin.  She remembered warm arms and teasing smiles and angry tears and suddenly yes, she did know this man and before she knew what she was doing she was jumping from her seat and pulling him into a tight hug and crying and laughing and pressing kisses all over his face.

“Jakob, Jakob.  Ich habe dich so sehr vermisst.  Jakob, es tut mir Leid, dass ich so lange weg war.“  Tony leaned over to Steve.

“Do you know what’s happening here?” He whispered as Laurel began to cry into the man’s shoulder.  Steve shrugged.

“I’d venture a guess to say she knows him.”

“She must have met him on a mission, he called her Amy.  He doesn’t know who she is.” Bucky leaned around Steve to tell Tony.

“He is called Jakob and he speaks English.” The man spoke up, watching the group with apprehension.  He turned back to Laurel, who had tucked herself securely into his side and made no move to leave his hold.  “And what did they mean by saying I don’t know who you are?”  Laurel grimaced before taking a deep breath and replying, stepping away from him as she did.

“Amy was never real?”  Distressed hazel eyes locked onto Laurel as she shifted uncomfortably and continued.  “Amy was a cover for my work.  My name’s actually Laurel.”  Jakob takes the empty seat at the end of the table and puts his head in his hands, trying to process what Laurel is saying.  She sighs and Clint stands up from his seat next to Jakob.

“We’ll find a different table, leave you two be.” The team quickly moves to a table in the corner of the restaurant, Steve pulling Bucky along reluctantly.

“She’ll be okay Buck.  She can handle herself.”

“I don’t like this guy.  Who the hell is he and how does he know her?” Steve gently pushes Bucky down onto one of the empty chairs and sits next to him, taking his hands in his.

“Buck I think that’s Winter talking, getting protective of his daughter.  It’s okay.  Hell I slept with her and you didn’t bite my head off.”

“Winter or not, she’s my daughter and I don’t like the look of that kid.” Sam sighs.

“Bucky, man it’s okay.  We’re all here if something happens, and even if we weren’t, Laurel has proved time and time again that she can handle herself.  She’s just talking to him.”

“You’re pissed cause she didn’t remember him.” Natasha speaks up.  Bucky turns to her, a scowl set on his face.

“What does that have to do with it?”

“You’re not pissed at this kid, or at Laurel, you’re pissed at Hydra.  Cause she doesn’t remember him, when she obviously spent some time with him while on a mission.  You’re pissed cause Hydra wiped that mission from her, and we didn’t think they’d wiped her at all before today.  You’re pissed cause now that we know they wiped her sometimes, there could be a lot of stuff missing from her memory.”  Bucky takes a deep breath, realizing that Natasha is, as usual, right.  He squeezes Steve’s hand, feeling the warm and solid skin and knowing that _this is real, Steve is here, and I’m okay,_ and letting himself calm down, reminded too closely of what Hydra had done to him.  He sneaks a glance at Laurel and Jakob, who are talking slowly with tears working their way down both of their faces, and turns back to Steve, letting himself be pulled into the comfort of his arms and allowing himself to acknowledge that he deserves Steve, deserves this group of ridiculously loving people around him, and deserves the family that he’s been slowly building in this new century.

                    A waitress comes to take their order and the team eats quietly, peeking over at Laurel and Jakob as the light outside the windows darkens and the streetlamps come on with their eerie yellow glow.  By the end of the meal, Laurel is smiling again, a shy, thoughtful smile, and Jakob is holding her hand tightly, refusing to let her leave again.

O.O

                    Bucky isn’t comfortable leaving Laurel behind.  Neither is Steve, or Bruce, or any of them really.  But they’ve spent almost a month in Germany and she swears she’ll be just fine and will Skype them every day so they climb onto Tony’s jet and settle into their flight back to New York.  They had helped Laurel get settled in at Jakob’s apartment, and couldn’t bring themselves to plead with her to come back with them after seeing how happy he made her.  No one was really clear on who he was to her, but for now, they were willing to accept Laurel’s explanation that “he’s a friend, a good friend, and I’d forgotten him”.  So Bucky settles into his seat next to Steve and falls asleep against his shoulder with his arms curled around one of Steve’s.

                    The tower is quiet for the next week as the Avengers assimilate back into their time zone and Pepper and Maria keep the press off their backs.  Once Saturday rolls around though, reporters and photographers have gathered outside the tower, and Maria steps into the large living room where the team is laying around, eating pizza.

“Mr. Stark, I know you wanted to stay out of the press for a while longer, but it has been a week since the Avengers were seen reentering the country and since you don’t have anyone running PR for you, I would like to advise that someone addresses them.” Tony shoots her a tired glance and stands from the couch.  He steps out of the tower’s lobby, greeted immediately by a large group of reporters, cameras snapping pictures of Tony in his sweatpants and tee shirt with a lopsided grin on his face.

“I’m guessing there are questions?”

                    It becomes an impromptu press conference, and Maria sends down Natasha after a while and then Clint later on.  She keeps Steve, Bucky, and Bruce upstairs, wanting to keep them out of the press.

“You guys need a PR manager.  Desperately.” Maria stresses as they sit in the living room, watching the news coverage from outside the tower.  One of the cameras pans up the front of the tower and stops on the living room window, where the blurry shapes of four people on the couch are visible.  Jarvis immediately closes the blinds, and on the tv one of the newscasters is narrating.

“It would appear that there are an additional four people in the Avengers Tower, formally Stark Tower, but Tony Stark has refused to comment on the matter.” Maria groans and gets up, disappearing to her office a few floors down.  On the tv, Tony abruptly ends the questions, tired of entertaining the public, and retreats upstairs with Natasha and Clint on his heels.

O.O

                    Bruce blinked over at the brunette shuffling around the kitchen.  Laurel had stayed in Germany, he didn’t know who else it could be.  He watched from the doorway as she tiredly poured herself a cup of coffee and turned around.  _Not Laurel,_ his mind helpfully supplied.  He pushed his glasses up his nose and studied her for a moment before stepping into the kitchen properly.

“Who are you exactly?” She jumps, almost dropping her mug of coffee and turns around to Bruce.

“God you scared me!  Who the hell are you?” Bruce ambled around the kitchen, making a cup of tea and setting a bagel to toast before turning back to the woman.

“Doctor Bruce Banner, I live here.  Who are you?”  She took a long drink of her coffee while Bruce spread cream cheese on his bagel before finally answering.

“Your new PR manager.  Darcy Lewis.” She stuck out a hand for Bruce to shake and he shook it quickly before turning back to his bagel.

“So you’re here to make sure we don’t look like shit in the news?” Darcy grinned and nodded, taking another sip of coffee.

“I’m getting ‘briefed’ this morning apparently.”  Bruce nodded and took a seat at the breakfast bar.  Darcy carefully took a seat next to him.

“Banner huh?  Jane’s a huge fan, she’d probably kill to be here right now.  Freaks out whenever you publish anything new, gets all jumpy and wide-eyed and ‘Darcy look at this!’ even though, no offense Doctor, but I don’t understand a single word.” Bruce gives a small laugh.

“Most people don’t understand a single word either.”

“Yeah well Jane does, and it gets her going.”

“So I’m guessing you’re the assistant that Doctor Jane Foster references as ‘the wrong sort of scientist’?” Darcy laughs, setting down her mug so she isn’t tempted to take another sip while laughing.

“She says that?  Oh that’s great!  Political science is my forte, I’ve been Jane’s intern for waaaay too long, much as I love the girl, I’m glad to finally be putting my schooling to use.  I may not be running a campaign for you guys, but, well, I kinda am.”  Bruce finished his bagel and tea before replying.

“Well I don’t envy the job Darcy, but I think you’ll do just fine.” He stands up to leave and Darcy flashes him a bright smile before turning back to her cup of coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Entschuldigung, mein Gedaechtnis ist nicht das, was es frueher war. Wie heiβt du?" - "Excuse me, my memory is not what it once was. What's your name?"
> 
> "Ich habe dich so sehr vermisst. Jakob, es tut mir Leid, dass ich so lange weg war." - "I have missed you so much. Jakob. I'm sorry I was away for so long."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs.

             It was dark and there was a body next to him. A moment’s assessment decided that the body was still breathing. Another moment told him that the body shouldn’t be breathing. He’d done something wrong somewhere. The handlers wouldn’t be pleased. The chair would be worse this time. But the body was a loved one. Someone who loved back. But it was the mission. But it was love.

             Bucky jumped quietly from the bed, backing away from Steve’s sleeping form. Steve reached out for Bucky and found his side of the bed empty, sitting up and blinking away sleep.

“Buck?”

“Don’t come near me.” Steve freezes with one foot on the floor, looking over at where Bucky has tucked himself into a dark corner, standing ramrod straight and looking for all his life like he’s trying not to lunge at Steve. Steve slowly picks up his cell phone from the bedside table.

“I’m gonna call Laurel, is that okay?” In his corner, Bucky nods, flesh hand gripping his metal arm tightly, holding it to his chest like he’s afraid it will strike out at Steve of its own accord. The phone rings twice before Laurel picks up the video call, bright eyed and dressed for the day already. Steve glances over at the clock, it’s two am, so it’s eight am her time. He glances over at Bucky quickly before turning to Laurel on the small screen.

“Everything okay Steve?”

“He’s regressing I think.” Laurel’s bright face fell and she put her head in her hands on the screen. Steve stepped down onto the floor and took a cautious step towards Bucky. “Laurel’s right here, I’ll set the phone down for you.” He set the phone down in the middle of the room and retreated to the bed. Bucky quickly grabbed it before sinking back into his corner.

“Come home. Please. I don’t want to hurt him, but I need to. Please come home.” Steve can feel his heart cracking at Bucky’s words, at the acknowledgement that there is still a war being fought inside his mind.

“I’ll get on a plane today. I’ll be home soon. For now, go down to the gym and ask the ceiling to lock you in, okay?” Bucky nods, tears threatening in his eyes and he can hear Laurel whisper something to him. Bucky presses two fingers to his lips and then to the screen before Laurel hangs up and he’s setting the phone down. Steve stays perfectly still as Bucky passes him and walks out the door, never taking his eyes from Steve.

“Jarvis, track his movements for me please.”

“Of course sir.”

O.O

“I don’t think you fully realize how difficult it is to get through airport security when your legs are literally made of metal.” Laurel jokes as she sets her bag down on her bed. Steve is standing in the doorway, nervous energy practically exploding from him, so Laurel sighs and turns around to face him. “Where is he?”

“The gym. Jarvis has him locked down, so I don’t know what you should expect.” She nods and checks that her guns haven’t been displaced inside her prosthetics before slipping a few knives into her belt and walking past Steve. They don’t speak until they reach the gym, when Steve pulls her into a tight hug. “Help him Lou.” His voice is choked with emotion and Laurel nods into his shoulder, hugging him back tightly.

“We’ll get him back Steve. Like you said, if anyone’s crazy enough to do it, it’s us.” He nods and lets her go, putting on a brave face and asking Jarvis to let her in. The door clicks open an inch and Laurel takes a deep breath before pushing it open and stepping in, senses on edge and poised to defend herself. The door clicks behind her and a loud crash sounds against the door. Steve begins to panic.

“Jarvis?!”

“It would appear that Mr. Barnes threw a weight rack at Ms. Barnes. She is unharmed, but they are fighting now. I will let you know when first blood is drawn.” The AI doesn’t exactly calm Steve down, but at least Bucky didn’t just smash Laurel’s skull in with a weight rack. He waits tensely in the hallway, trying to discern what Bucky’s current state of mind could be. The Winter Soldier would be protecting Laurel, and Bucky knows her too, so the man in the weight room is likely a Winter Soldier who doesn’t remember anything, even the deep connection to Laurel. He can only hope he remembers her before she tires out.

“Sir, first blood goes to Mr. Barnes, he seems to have broken Ms. Barnes’ nose. Again.”

“Thank you Jarvis.”

“Shall I call up the medical team? Ms. Barnes appears to have just broken a number of Mr. Barnes’ ribs.” Steve sighs heavily, slumping against the wall and wanting nothing more than to walk into the room and stop their fighting, but he knows that might just make it worse.

“Please do Jarvis. Thank you.” He leans against the wall in tense silence for what seems like hours. Finally he addresses Jarvis again. “How long have they been at it?”

“Nearing an hour sir, the medical team is on standby at the far end of the hall. Shall I send for them to wait with you?”

“No, thank you Jarvis.”

“Sir you should know that Ms. Barnes has a knife in her right thigh and Mr. Barnes is exhibiting signs of recognition. I would recommend you intervene, it would not do for Mr. Barnes to come back to himself and realize what he has done.” Steve stands up, stretches quickly, and waits for the doors. Down the hall he can hear the medical team mobilizing.

             The doors open and Steve walks in, approaching Bucky slowly with his hands raised. Laurel is laying on one of the sparring mats, blood pooling around her from the knife sticking out of her right thigh. She takes advantage of Bucky’s distraction to rip off a section of her tee shirt and pull the knife out, tying it off quickly with the strip of shirt. There are bloody streaks across the floor and sections of the wall, a splatter of blood on one of the far walls, where Bucky had evidently smashed Laurel’s face into the wall. Her nose is still dripping steadily and is swollen and crooked.  Bucky is crouched, ready to strike out at either Steve or Laurel, but he’s favoring one side and has an arm wrapped around his lower ribs. There’s a gash spilling blood from his right arm and another knife sticking out from between two tiles of his left arm. He watches Steve with panicked, confused eyes.

“Buck, it’s me, it’s Steve. Why don’t we get those ribs looked at okay?” Bucky calms down a bit, nodding and taking a slow step towards Steve. The medical team takes that as their cue and enters the room, stepping over the mangled mess of the weight rack Bucky had thrown to put Laurel on one gurney and Steve helps them coax Bucky onto another.

O.O

“How long are you staying for?” Bruce is asking when Laurel wakes up. In the bed next to her Bucky’s upper body is wrapped in bandages and he’s hooked up to a morphine drip for his ribs. She feels a pang of guilt before refocusing on Bruce. “God you look awful.” Laurel starts to laugh, and stops when her lungs won’t expand properly.

“That was a hell of a fight wasn’t it? I almost want to ask Jarvis for a copy of it on DVD.” She grins and Bruce grins back, deciding to humor her for the moment. “So, what exactly did the doctor say is wrong with me?”

“You’re stupidly reckless.” Laurel smiles.

“I could’ve told you that. Really, what’s wrong with me and what’s wrong with Bucky?” Bruce sighs.

“One hell of a fight. Tony had us watch the footage while you were out. I’m surprised you’re both still alive really. Bruised ribs, minor concussion, broken nose, fractured skull where he hit you in the eye with his metal arm, sliced a major artery in your thigh, cut up your shoulder pretty badly, and you’re covered in bruises. Otherwise fine though.”

“Hey, I’m not dead and there are no bullets this time.” Bruce shrugs his shoulders as if conceding the point before continuing.

“You did a number on Bucky too. Four broken ribs, three bruised, broken right femur, lost a bit of blood from that gash in his right arm, and, oh thank you for this by the way, Tony and I had to fix all that circuitry you killed in his left arm. He’s bruised, battered, but breathing.” Laurel nods.

“You said I look like hell, got a mirror?” Bruce picks up the compact mirror from Laurel’s bedside table and hands it to her. She begins to laugh again at the sight of herself but stops abruptly at the pain in her ribs. She hands it back to Bruce and sighs. “Is he back to himself though? I was careful not to hit him in the head at all, that’s how I got the knife in my thigh, didn’t want to slam his head into a wall.” He hesitates before answering.

“As far as we can figure, he’s back to himself, woke up about an hour ago absolutely freaking out about what he’d done to you, that’s why he’s in here by the way. We had him in his room, but he gets scary when he’s worried about you, even when he is bedridden, so Steve helped bring him over to your room.” She nods, looking over at Bucky asleep next to her. Bruce shifts uncomfortably where he’s sitting on the edge of the bed.

“What?” He doesn’t answer, doesn’t meet Laurel’s eyes. “Bruce-” She begins, voice low and threatening.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to leave again. He has a better sense of self when you’re around him. I know you want to go back to Germany and Jakob, but Bucky needs you here, Steve needs you here, hell, the Avengers need you here.” Laurel rests a hand on Bruce’s leg and nods tiredly.

“I’m not going anywhere. Turns out Jakob was in love with my cover, not me. I’m here to stay.” Bruce’s face falls, and he opens his mouth to offer his condolences but Laurel holds up a hand to stop him. “I should’ve seen it coming really. I didn’t remember too much of him, other than he helped to unknowingly further my cover. Wasn’t meant to be once the truth came to light.” Bruce nods and stands.

“I’ll leave you to sleep then, even with your enhanced healing, you’ve got a lot of healing to do.” She nods, already dropping back into sleep, and Bruce closes the door behind him.

             The next time she wakes up Bucky is awake next to her, Steve is sitting next to him, and Bucky is complaining in an exaggerated tone about daughters being more trouble than he’d anticipated. She pushes herself up slowly, ignoring the protests from her ribs.

“Well no one told me assassins wouldn’t make the ideal dads so,” Bucky turns around and grins, trying to pull her into a hug but stopping with a wince. “Sorry about the ribs.” Laurel apologizes. Bucky snorts, a disbelieving grin on his face.

“Sorry about your face kid.” Laurel waves him off, knowing full well that her nose is more crooked than ever before and her black eye has probably not faded completely yet.

“I’ve had worse.” Steve, who has been silent up until now, lets out a strangled whine and they turn to him.

“Just, you’ve had worse. It’s kind of hard to acknowledge.”

“You’re telling me.” Laurel jokes. It brings a strained smile to Steve’s face, and he leans across Bucky to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. He sits back and Bucky makes an impatient noise, pointing with one metal finger to his lips, puckered with a deep frown. Steve laughs, a true laugh, and kisses Bucky on the lips before standing from the bed.

“You guys want lunch? I’m sure I can convince Clint to make that goulash you like.”

“That’d be great, thanks.” Laurel replies. Steve nods, gives them both fond smiles, and leaves the room. Laurel turns to Bucky, who is watching her carefully. “Let’s not fight anymore, okay?” He smiles, presses a kiss to her cheek, and agrees.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs. I don't know, this one got away from me. Oops.

“Is there any truth to the rumor that the legendary Winter Soldier assassin has taken up residence in the Avengers Tower?”  Darcy gives the reporter one of her smiles that the team has learned to mean she isn’t in the mood to deal with this shit, but doesn’t want to piss too many people off.

“If the Winter Soldier comes to the attention of the Avengers I can guarantee he will be dealt with in a careful, effective manner.  Past that we do not wish to comment on the matter.”  Hands shot up and reporters began calling Darcy’s name again.  She pointed to a man from the Times.

“It has been nearly seven months since the incident in Washington DC, we’ve yet to hear anything from Captain Rogers.  Will he be making a statement anytime soon?”

“Actually yes, at Saturday’s briefing the Captain will make a short statement concerning the events in Washington DC before the regular briefing resumes.  I’ll take one more question.” She pointed to a woman from one of the local gossip magazines.

“Photographs have surfaced of Captain Rogers walking through the city with an unidentified woman, can you lend any credence to the rumor that Captain Rogers has finally found love in the 21st century?”  Darcy gave the reporter a weary sigh and raised an eyebrow.

“Is that really the question you want to be asking?”  The woman nods, looking offended.  “I’m not sure what pictures you’re referring to but I can assure you that Captain Roger’s love life is none of your damn business.” She snaps her notebook closed and steps away from the podium purposefully as the reporters began to call out to her again.  She leaves the press room and steps into the elevator, rubbing a hand across her face tiredly.

“Jarvis could you tell Laurel, Steve, and Bucky that I need to talk to them right away.”

“They are in Ms. Barnes’ room.  I will tell them to expect you.”  Darcy steps off the elevator and walks quickly to Laurel’s room, knocking on the door rapidly before pushing into the room. 

     Laurel and Bucky were sitting in bed, snickering at Steve as he ran around them like a concerned mother, picking up dirty soup bowls and making sure they have enough blankets.

“Morning Darcy.” Laurel called.  Steve turned around and gave her a quick smile before sitting down next to Bucky.  Bucky was watching Darcy with suspicious blue eyes.  “She’s a friend.” Laurel reassured him.  He nodded and looked to Steve, who also nodded.  He settled back into the bed.

“Jarvis said you needed to see us?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, just finished up in the press room and I was getting a lot of questions about Mr. Barnes here, and apparently there are some photographs going around of Cap and Laurel walking through the city, people have been asking about that too.”

“So we need to figure this out?  Revealing that yes the Winter Soldier is here in the tower, yes he is James Barnes, no he’s not going to hurt anyone, yes he is a valuable member of the Avengers team, and then eventually we need to inform the public that their precious Captain America is bisexual, and dating the Winter Soldier?”  Laurel gives a short snort of laughter. 

“Oh god, that’ll be fun.”  Steve looks frozen in place on his spot next to Bucky.

“You okay Cap?” Darcy asks.  He nods slowly.

“That’s a lot to handle.” He comments as Bucky curls his metal fingers around Steve’s wrist and pulls him down for a quick kiss.

“Are you forgetting what we’ve already handled?  We’ll be fine.”  Steve nods, resting his head against Bucky’s shoulder and Darcy turns to address Laurel again.

“We also need to get it out in the open that you’re the ex-Hydra operative Frost, that you’re not here to hurt anyone either, and that you’ve become a valuable member of the team.  Then we can address the whole “Laurel is Bucky’s daughter” thing.  And yes,” she gives them a pointed look, “It does need to be addressed in public.  People are asking if Steve is dating Laurel.”  Steve turns bright red and Laurel and Bucky begin to laugh.  Darcy raises an eyebrow in question.

“There’s a story here that as your public relations manager I should probably know.”  Laurel nods and takes a deep breath, but Bucky speaks up first.

“Steve slept with Laurel while they were hunting me down.”  Darcy’s mouth dropped into a surprised ‘O’ and her eyes shifted to Steve, who had turned bright red and was trying not to draw notice to himself.  Darcy pulls herself together after a moment and grins.

“Get it Cap.”

O.O

     Laurel and Bucky are waiting in the hallway outside the press room.  Bucky’s wearing dress pants, a light blue button up, a dark grey vest and a tie.  He’s pulling anxiously at the tie and Laurel smacks his hand away, pulling him down by the collar of his shirt to fix his tie.

“You’ve got to stop messing with it.  I’m sick of fixing it.”  Bucky sighed and let Laurel fix it.  She stepped back to look him over.  “Turn.” He grinned tiredly and turned around slowly, Laurel tucking his shirt in properly and pulling his vest straight before buttoning it up.  “Better.” 

     They turned to watch the tv across them on the wall as Steve took the podium.  After a brief introduction, he took a deep breath and began to talk quickly.

“Questions have been raised concerning pictures of myself and a woman seen around the city, and I’m here to clear up the speculations that,” he pauses and looks down at his notes, “I’ve ‘found love in the 21st century’.  I have found love in the 21st century, but it’s a love that started in the 20th century, and against all odds, it’s a love that I’m lucky enough to have in this century as well.  The woman in these photographs is a close friend, but today I’d like to publicly introduce my great love.”

“Steve, ‘great love’ what’s he thinking?” Bucky scoffs under his breath.  Laurel gives him a kiss on the cheek and smiles, smoothing down the wrinkles in his shirt.

“We can give him shit about it later.”

“Am I good to go tell the world that Captain America’s my boyfriend now mom?” Laurel fixed Bucky with a stern look before grinning at him.

“Yeah, have fun destroying the public’s image of Captain America.”  Bucky winked and touched the door handle to walk in, but paused and turned back to Laurel.

“You look nice today, thought you might want to know.”  Laurel shoved him jokingly back towards the door and pulled nervously on the hem of her dress.

“Get going!"

     He flashed her a grin, pulled open the door, and walked confidently into the press room.  Laurel caught sight of the shouting reporters and the smile on Steve’s face as he watched Bucky walk up to join him at the podium.  She turned back to the tv, the press room was in chaos, and Bucky was grinning brightly at Steve, stepping up to the raised podium and pulling Steve in for a deep kiss.  He pulled away after a moment and stood next to Steve with a wide smile, one arm settled around his waist.  At the bottom of the screen the line reading ‘Captain Rogers addresses Washington DC incident’ had been replaced with the line ‘Captain America secretly gay’.  She shook her head and flipped to a different news channel, their headline read ‘Captain America reveals possible bisexuality’.  Better.

“I’d like to introduce my partner, Sergeant James Barnes.”  Reporters were clamoring for attention while Bucky talked quietly to Steve, holding him firmly against his side.  After a moment Steve gave Bucky a quick kiss and turned back to the press with a smile.  “I know there are questions, and a lot of them, especially now that you’ve seen just how handsome he is, but I’d like to move on to the next topic before taking any questions.” 

     In the hall, Laurel smoothed down her simple black dress, checked that her black tights hid her metallic legs, and took a slow breath. 

“The woman in those photographs is a dear friend to the Avengers, and especially close to Sergeant Barnes and myself.  I’m pleased to introduce, Agent Laurel Barnes.”

     She stepped through the door and walked quickly through the reporters now shouting for her attention as well as Steve’s and climbed to the podium, kissing both Bucky and Steve on the cheek before taking her place on Steve’s other side.  She mimicked Bucky and wrapped an arm around his middle, holding herself close to his side and smiling as the photographers snapped picture after picture.  Finally she pulled away and took over the briefing.

“To being I’d like to address the headline I just saw on Fox News regarding the Captain’s announcement, no, Captain America is not secretly gay, but he is openly bisexual.  Now, I’ll be fielding questions for the next twenty minutes, not a minute more, so ask carefully.”  Immediately the reports began to jostle for her attention.  She pointed to a man from the Times, who stood up quickly.

“Mrs. Barnes, is this Sergeant James Barnes not the same Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes said to have died in the service during World War II?  How is he here today?”  Laurel fixed him with a calm stare.

“It’s actually Ms. Barnes, I’m not married to James here, that’s the Captain’s job.” Nervous laughter ran through the crowd of reporters.  “Yes, this Sergeant Barnes is the same Sergeant Barnes said to have died during World War II in the service of the division known as the Howling Commandos.  After falling from a train in the Swiss Alps, Sergeant Barnes was presumed dead and instead captured by a group of rogue Nazi scientists.  Sergeant Barnes endured years of torture and brainwashing until they had created the assassin known to us as the Winter Soldier.  He was cryogenically frozen between assignments and bouts of brainwashing, and comes to us today barely older than he was the day he was lost.  In the past months, Sergeant Barnes has been recovering from the traumatic experiences of the last seventy years and has regained his sense of who he was before this unspeakable violation of human rights.”

“You’re telling us that the Winter Soldier, a deadly assassin trained and created by the Nazi science division Hydra, is dating Captain America?” A second reporter asked.  Laurel shook her head.

“No, I’m telling you that Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes is in a happy, healthy relationship with Captain Steven Grant Rogers and it’s really none of your business but they thought it might be nice to include the public for a moment.  Next question.”

“Captain Rogers called you Agent Laurel Barnes.  You share the Sergeant’s last name, what is your relation to him and where did you earn your title of agent?”  Steve tugged lightly on the back of Laurel’s dress and she stepped back from the podium and Bucky slung an arm around her shoulders.

“Laurel was born in New York City in nineteen forty-two, kidnapped by Hydra in nineteen forty-five and taken to Germany.  She was raised by the organization and trained to be the perfect assassin, cryogenically frozen between assignments in the same way that Bucky was.  He was the Winter Soldier, and she was Frost, but today they’re just Bucky and Laurel.  She shares the Barnes family name because she’s Bucky’s daughter, though they never met until she had been kidnapped by Hydra as well.  Her title of ‘agent’ comes from her service to Hydra, but more recently from her service and allegiance to the Avengers.”

“How can you bring yourself so closely to two assassins from a Nazi organization like Hydra, who recently used the Winter Soldier in an attempt to kill you and enslave humanity to their control?”  Steve stared down the reporter with a hard glare.  Next to her, Laurel felt Bucky’s muscles tense, as if readying himself to jump on the reporter.

“Bucky and Laurel are not Hydra.  They have both spent many years as slaves to the brute force, brainwashing, and torture inflicted upon them by Hydra, and have escaped Hydra’s control to join the Avengers in our fight to eradicate the organization.  We’ll take one more question.”

“You mentioned that this ‘great love’ of yours began in the 20th century, are you confirming what many historians have speculated, that the relationship between yourself and James Barnes was more than one of a brotherly bond?”  Steve opened his mouth to answer but Bucky gently pushed him away from the microphone, giving the crowd of reporters his best devilish grin.

“Well I can say it’s nice to know that historians have spent seventy years trying to figure out if Stevie was getting any in the forties.” Quiet laughter washed through the reporters.  Bucky grinned and continued.  “The answer to that by the way is no, Steve here wasn’t getting any in the forties, and a lot of that is probably because in nineteen thirty-eight I was scared shitless of telling him that the love I felt for him was a bit beyond brotherly.  I think he shares the same sentiment, or,” he glances back at Steve, who is watching him like he’s suspicious of whatever Bucky’s about to say, “at least I hope he shares the sentiment, as he’s had no problem sharing my bed for the last few months.”

     Bucky gets the reaction he was hoping for, Steve flushes bright red and Laurel smiles, wrapping an arm around Steve’s waist and pulling him from the press room as cameras flash and reporters shout and Bucky gives them a wave, announcing “that’s it from us!” before following Laurel and Steve and pulling them into a tight hug outside the press room.  Laurel slips away while Steve tries to be angry with Bucky and Bucky only smiles and gives Steve little kisses all over his face until he stops pretending he’s angry and kisses him back.

     Darcy comes running over and grabs Laurel by the arm, smiling and talking a mile a minute, ranging from how they absolutely threw the statement she’d written out the window and how completely wonderful it is that Steve and Bucky had decided to ignore everything else and come out on live television.  Laurel stops Darcy when they’re halfway down the hall from where Bucky has Steve against a wall and is pressing their foreheads together with a tired smile.

“So that was okay?” Laurel asks.

“Well a lot of headlines are going to say things like ‘Captain America, GAY!’ or ignore that part and say something about ‘Captain America surrounded by Hydra!’ with a picture of the three of you, but hey, everything’s pretty much out now and all that’s left to do is push through whatever else comes our way.  We’ll be just fine.”  Laurel pulls Darcy in for a hug.

“Thank you Darcy.  Thank you for everything.”

“It’s literally what you hired me for.” That gets a laugh, and the two walk back to Bucky and Steve, who have finally pulled apart and are waiting patiently for them before going up to lunch.

“There’s an army of interns who are going to be spending the rest of the day finding anything they can on the Winter Soldier, Frost, and what Hydra was using them for.” Darcy commented.  Steve shrugged.

“Let them.  None of that matters anymore.” Darcy gave him a mock salute as the elevator stopped and they stepped onto the main living floor.

O.O

“You have personal space issues, you know that?”

“I’m aware.” Bucky replied with a playful grin.  He pressed closer to Steve, hooking one leg around his and pressing flush against him.

“Buck-” Steve groaned.

“Stevie.” Bucky breathed.  “See?  I can do it too.” Steve pushed Bucky’s face away from his, trying to hide his fond smile.  “You’re shit at hiding things from me Stevie, you love me like this and we both know it.”

“Dammit Buck I do love you and I don’t know what I did to deserve it.”

“Yeah, you must’ve fucked up big time to get stuck with me.”  Steve grabbed the collar of Bucky’s dress shirt and pulled him close for a sloppy, open mouthed kiss.  His hands wandered under the vest Bucky hadn’t taken off from the press conference and he nipped happily at Bucky’s bottom lip.

“Did Laurel dress you for the press conference?”  Bucky impatiently pressed against Steve, trying to kiss him again.

“Yeah.  C’mon Steve.”  He tugged at Steve’s shirt, untucking it from his pants and ripping a few buttons off.

“We need to watch out for her, she’s got a single-minded mission to get you laid as often as possible.”  Bucky laughs, momentarily abandoning his task of taking back Steve’s mouth.

“By god let her do it then.  I’ll let her pick out my clothes every fucking day if that’s the result.”  Steve hums his agreement and slowly unbuttons Bucky’s vest, slipping it off his shoulders and kissing Bucky again.  Bucky reaches between them to loosen his tie and Steve stops, watching him.

“What?”

“You should wear loose ties more often.”  Bucky grins and pops the top two buttons of his shirt, rolls up the sleeves, and leans against the back of their bedroom door.

“Like what you see, Captain?”  The grin he’s giving Steve is teasing, challenging, and cocky all in one, so Steve kisses him to shut him up.  “Must really like it.” Bucky pulls away long enough to comment.

“The mouth on you Buck-”

“It’s fucking fantastic, I know.  Now can you _please_ fuck me against the wall of our bedroom until the only thing that exists in this world is your ridiculous cock?”  Steve blushes but goes back to kissing him, and spends the next hour making sure Bucky gets his wish.

O.O

“I need to talk to Tony about getting their room soundproofed.”  Bruce looks up from his computer as Laurel sits down on his lab table and gives him a small smile.

“That bad?”

“That bad.”  Bruce nods, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and turns back to the computer monitor.

“Saw the press conference.  Darcy’s getting excited about the headlines tomorrow.  They started a pool upstairs on what detail will be focused on more, the sexuality of Captain America or the violent histories of his closest companions.”  Laurel nods, examining a glove from one of Tony’s Iron Man suits that he left sitting around.

“I promise the majority of the stories that do focus on Steve and Bucky’s relationship will paint them both as closeted gay instead of bisexual.”  Bruce nods in agreement.

“It’s highly likely.”

“Darcy also thinks that there’s an army of interns who are going to be spending the rest of the day digging up everything they can find on the Winter Soldier and Frost.”

“Probably.  Natasha dumped all of SHIELD’s files onto the public domain, Hydra’s files went too.  The public is going to become increasingly informed about everything you’ve done in your life, and everything that Hydra has done to you and Bucky.” Bruce turns away from his computer to watch Laurel.  She’s absently turning the Iron Man glove over in her hands, watching the light reflecting from the metal.

“I find that I don’t mind so much.  If people everywhere know the details of my life, it’ll be harder for me to forget them.”

“Laurel, the details they’re going to know aren’t the important ones.  The important things are the things you’ve found without Hydra.  The only thing the public has access to are your Hydra records.  They don’t have access to the details of the bond you formed with Bucky while under Hydra’s control.  They don’t have access to the relationships you’ve built here.  The most important things are the ones you get to remember for yourself.” 

     Laurel looks up from the red metal, reads Bruce’s open expression and finds nothing but genuine caring there, and leans forward to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

“Thank you Bruce.”  She steps down from the table and lets Bruce pull her into a warm hug, enveloping her in his calm presence.

O.O

“What does a baby Barnes assassin look like?” Tony asks loudly.  It’s Friday night, the team is sitting in the tower’s media room while Clint and Sam argue over which movie to watch, and Tony is laying across one of the leather couches with a bowl of popcorn balanced on his head.

“Like any other stunningly beautiful kid.” Bucky replies.  Steve grins and takes the bowl of popcorn from Tony’s face to sit next to Bucky on another couch.

“I don’t have any idea what I looked like as a baby, but I can guarantee that every Barnes assassin is just as gorgeous as the last.” Laurel supplies.  She’s on a third couch sitting next to Natasha, with Bruce on the floor in front of her leaning back against her legs.  By the projector, Clint loses the rock-paper-scissors battle and slinks back to his seat on the arm of the couch next to Natasha.

“What’s with the interest in baby Barnes assassins?” Natasha asks.  Tony shrugs.

“Curious.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.” Sam reminds him as he sits down next to Tony.  The inventor sighs and rests his feet in Sam’s lap.

“But satisfaction brought it back.” Clint supplies.  Sam shrugs, conceding the point.

“Speaking of curiosity killing the cat, where were you when the Helicarriers went down?” Laurel casts a warning gaze to Sam.

"Killing the cat." She replies in a deadpan tone.

"Seriously." Sam demands.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Really, I do.” She fixes him with a hard stare.

“ _Really,_ you _don’t.”_ She repeats.

“We all want to know Laurel.” Steve interrupts.  Laurel sits back, surveying the team around her.

“Is this some sort of trust thing?  You don’t know if you can trust me on your precious team until you know what I’m capable of?  Ask Bucky.  He knows what I’ve done.” Bucky looks down at his feet and shakes his head slightly.

“You don’t want to know.” He agrees.

“We deserve to know.” Clint argues.  Laurel sighs and turns her gaze to Sam, eyes hard over a crushing shame.

“You want to know what I was doing while Captain America was revealing the existence of Hydra to the world?  I was fucking a SHIELD agent in the 39th floor men’s room, and Captain fucking America comes over the intercom with his little speech and this guy just _stares_ at me like I’ve never been stared at before.  And since I’m a bit fucked up in the head I can’t help but whisper _hail Hydra_ and watch his brief moment of panic before opening his throat.  So there.  Satisfied?”  No one can meet her eyes, no one but Natasha, who stares back at her evenly before slowly nodding.

“You did what you had to for the ones in control.”  Laurel stares back at her for a long moment, not breathing, before nodding with a small, shaky grin and tears in her eyes, accepting the understanding she’s lacked for so long.  The team wordlessly turns back to the movie, but Laurel finds Bruce’s steady hand covering hers before long and Natasha leaning softly and reassuringly against her side.  The people in this room understand.  They know the sacrifices that are made, in the name of freedom or fear, everyone has had their missions.

O.O

     Clint wins the bet, the majority of the newspapers comment only on Steve and Bucky’s ‘decades old gay love affair’ and Clint collects his dues with a grin and a mock-salute in Steve and Bucky’s direction.

“Thanks for the media confusion boys.” He comments, walking away with a wad of the Avengers’ bills in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other.

“If this is a ‘decades old gay love affair’, then we’ve got decades of gay love to make up for.” Bucky comments with a grin, watching Steve with hungry eyes.  Tony chokes on his drink and Bruce pats him on the back until he settles down.  Bucky is giving the team his best shit-eating grin and Steve is fighting the blush creeping up his neck.  They’re saved from the tense silence by Jarvis, who announces there’s been an attack in New Jersey that can be traced to Hydra.  The team mobilizes quickly.

“Me too?” Bucky asks.  Steve nods and tosses him his guns, which he snaps into place without a moment’s hesitation.

“The public expects Frost and the Winter Soldier to be fighting with us now, and this’ll give you the chance to bash in a few Hydra heads.”  Bucky hesitates, thinking it over, before nodding with a wide smile.

“It would be my absolute pleasure.”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs.

     Bucky wakes up tangled with Steve, legs twisted and arms wrapped tightly around each other.  Steve has burrowed his face into Bucky’s neck and has one arm wrapped tightly around his torso and another around one leg.  It’s the most uncomfortable position he’s ever woken up in, but Steve’s skin is warm against his and he’s been cold for too long.  He presses closer to Steve and takes a moment to breathe in the morning.  The room is lightening as the sun is rising over the city, and a light breeze is twisting through the room from the window they’d left cracked open.  The scent of crisping bacon and fresh bread drifts down the hallway and sneaks into their room, and Bucky sighs contentedly.

“I love you Stevie.” Bucky breathes into Steve’s skin.  Bucky can feel Steve’s lazy smile against his skin and Steve burrows deeper into the crook of Bucky’s neck.

“Then marry me.” Steve breathes.  Bucky almost sighs, he wants to, they’ve had this conversation, but he thinks back to the last two weeks after Steve had announced the nature of their relationship, and holds back the sigh.

“Steve-”

“I can wait Buck.”  Bucky shifts, forcing Steve to lift his head and watch his expression.

“Fuck it.  We’ve wasted enough time.”  Steve sits up quickly, holding himself up over Bucky with a look of unconstrained glee on his face.

“Seriously?  You’re not just saying that cause I keep asking?  I want you to really want this.  I don’t want you to feel pressured or anythi-” Bucky pulls him down and kisses him, holding him tightly and smiling against Steve’s stunned mouth.

“It’s not because you keep asking, you’ve only asked twice.  I seriously want this Steve.  I can swear I’ve wanted this since we were fifteen and I realized that taking girls out wasn’t as great as staying in with you.  I’ve wanted this when you were sick and I didn’t know if I’d ever see your stupid grin again.  I needed this when we were lost in Europe, sleeping in mud, and I pretended I was pressing closer to you for warmth.  Dammit Steve I’ve needed this my whole life.”

“So have I.  God Buck, so have I.”

O.O

     Steve and Bucky are conspicuously absent for the entire morning and much of the afternoon.  Laurel takes advantage of their absence to sneak down to the labs, propping herself up on Bruce’s lab table and taking any excuse to stare at him.  After an hour Bruce fixes her with an amused half-glare and takes off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Laurel-” He begins.  Laurel starts speaking in a rush.

“I swear Bruce if I don’t get to kiss you again in the next ten seconds I’m going to go insane and I’m sorry if that’s forward but I’ve been giving you the ‘fuck me’ eyes for like three months and I don’t think you’ve gotten it.” 

     Bruce stared at Laurel for a moment, eyes wide and mouth frozen half-open.  Laurel is slowly turning red under his watch, and Bruce leans forward, kissing her gently.  Laurel stays frozen for a moment longer before reaching up to cup his face carefully, tipping herself forward into his gentle touch.  Bruce gently nudged her lips apart and Laurel pressed forward, Bruce’s hands gripping her shoulders and pulling her across the table.  She tipped forward and unbalanced Bruce, and they went falling onto the floor.  Bruce landed on his back with a grunt, pulling away from Laurel as she landed on his chest, their legs tangled together.  A moment of silence stood between them and then Bruce began to laugh, light and slightly nervous, and Laurel’s bright laugh joined his after a moment.

“I’m so sorry Bruce.” Laurel apologized, a nervous grin on her face.  Bruce pressed a timid kiss to her lips.

“It’s not a problem Laurel.”  She stood up and held out a hand for Bruce, pulling him up and leaving the lab with a satisfied smile and a renewed spring in her step.

     When Bucky and Steve reappeared in the mid-afternoon, they were grinning and talking to each other in whispers and when they joined the rest of the team in the gym, Steve took Bucky’s hand in his and Bucky cleared his throat loudly.

“There’s something we need to tell you guys.” 

“You caved?” Sam asked.  Bucky frowned and Steve grinned, nodding.

“More like I couldn’t really say no to Captain Puppy-Eyes over here.”

“Hey!  You said you’d be happy to marry me!”

“Steveeeeee.” Bucky complained, resting his chin on Steve’s shoulder and pressing a kiss to the side of his face. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Do you have a date yet or did you only get as far as deciding it was going to happen?” Natasha asks.  Bucky stands up straight, shoulders back and hands proudly on his hips, chin tilted up with an arrogant smile.  He holds out his left hand, sticking his ring finger out for Natasha to see.

“We’re more prepared than you give us credit for Natasha.”  She rolls her eyes and takes Bucky’s hand, inspecting the ring.  It’s a thin band of platinum and gold strands twisted together.

“Impressive.  So Steve actually got down on one knee and asked you for ‘your hand in marriage’ and held up that ring?”  Steve gives an apologetic grin, and Bucky’s arrogant stance deflates as he casts an accusing gaze to Steve.

“Well,” Steve has one hand on the back of his neck, rubbing at the bristles of his hair.  “Not exactly.”

“Dude, you can’t _not_ do that!” Sam protests.  Clint nods in agreement.

“Even _I_ got down on one knee to propose, even if it was because there was a knife in my leg, I was down on one knee all the same!”  All eyes turn to the archer, whose eyes have gone wide and is smiling guiltily.  “We’re not going to be able to pretend I didn’t say that, are we?

”“The hell man?!  How could we not know that?!  We’ve known each other for years!” Tony protests, laying down across one of the weight machines with a sigh.

“It wasn’t important.” Clint argues, crossing his arms over his chest protectively and putting on an offended pout.

“Who the hell married you?!” Tony continued.  Across the gym, Natasha was leaning against Bucky and let out a derisive scoff.

“Who the hell do you think Tony?”  Tony’s mouth drops open, Sam raises an eyebrow in question, Bruce grins, Laurel gives Clint a thumbs-up, Bucky doesn’t really react, and Steve flushes bright red.  Natasha is watching Steve with an amused smirk.

“So Rogers,” She begins, still grinning at Steve and leaning across Bucky to look straight up at Steve, mischief dancing across her features.

“I’m so sorry Nat!”  She laughs, crossing the gym with steps light as water.  She hooks an arm around Clint’s shoulders and drops her head on one shoulder, mimicking Bucky’s position leaning on Steve.

“The Captain is embarrassed for kissing me while we were on the run.”  She fixes him with a focused gaze.  “Even though there’s nothing to be embarrassed about and it was literally for our survival.”  Steve nods, turning to Bucky, who is smirking like he’s just been handed the keys to the kingdom.

“You kissed Natasha?” Bucky asks, grinning wider as Steve nods.

“She sort of made me!”  Bucky’s eyebrows raise, and he presses closer to Steve, crowding him against one of the treadmills.

“Nat gets to order you around soldier?  Gets to tell you what to do and when to do it?  A wonder I haven’t tried that out yet.  I bet it’s easy too, you’re eager to please and you’ve got a soft spot for angry assassins apparently.”  Bucky has Steve pinned against the rails of the treadmill, a devious grin on his face in contrast to Steve’s heavily embarrassed and slightly panicked look.

“Buck, you realize we’re not alone right?” He whispers.  Bucky gives a slight nod and pushes his mouth against Steve’s, kissing him deeply and pulling away with an obscene, wet sound.

“You know, that’s one thing I really didn't need an actual image for.” Tony complains loudly.  Bucky backs away from Steve with a whispered promise to finish up later, and saunters across the gym and leaves.  The door has barely swung shut behind him when Steve is following, an apologetic grin in place on his bright face and a certain bounce to his step.  After he’s gone, the team erupts into laughter.

“Our favorite ninety-year olds are getting married and probably going off to have really loud sex upstairs, we now all know that Legolas is apparently married to Scary,” Natasha preens happily at the new nickname Tony’s given her, “I've got Pepper, but sadly we've still got three singles roaming around the tower.” He stares down Bruce, Laurel, and Sam in turn.  Clint loops an arm around Sam quickly.

“You’re not setting him up with any of your crazy exes Tony, you’re not touching him.” He warns.  Bruce cracks a smile and lets out an ugly snort of laughter.

“ _Birds of a feather flock together._ ” He quips in a sing-song voice.  Laurel cracks up at that and Tony tries not to dissolve into muffled giggles too.  Sam and Clint are giving each other twin, knowing smiles, and Natasha is trying not to roll her eyes too hard.

O.O

     He likes Laurel, he really does, but it just seems a bit, well, _messy,_ to be fucking on one of Tony’s lab tables, not that he’s truly lodging a complaint, all he can do at the moment is moan and whine and Laurel is taking those as encouragement rather than objection, which is exactly what Bruce was hoping she’d do.  There’s a pen jabbing him in the back and he takes one hand from Laurel’s thigh long enough to move it and grabs her roughly again as she opens her mouth to complain.  They’re both still half-dressed, her skirt is hiked up around her waist and Bruce’s pants are puddled around his ankles, he’s leaning half-on and half-off the (thankfully) sturdy table and Laurel has her legs wrapped around his hips, rocking them quickly. 

     She has one hand knotted in his tie, pulling his face down to her chest, where he’s biting and sucking dark marks into her skin.  The nails digging into his biceps have thankfully been cut so they aren’t drawing blood, but with her strength he can already feel the bruises forming in the shapes of her fingers.  It doesn’t take long before they’re spent, panting and leaning inelegantly against each other and the table.  Laurel moves to his side enough to fall against the table, and Bruce slides down to sit on the floor, pulling her with him.

“Our little secret?” Bruce asks with a tired smile.  Laurel gives him a half-smile and a kiss before pushing herself up, pulling her skirt back into place and gathering her tangled hair into a loose bun.

“Of course.  Need help with anything down here before I head out?” He shakes his head, standing slowly and pulling up his pants.

“I’m going to get back to working on those data sets Jane sent over.  She’s been tracking the movement of the Bifrost from her lab in New Mexico, wanted some help making sense of the patterns and the different forms of matter that seem to appear out of nowhere.  So unless you wanted to just sit around and watch me work, I think I’m good.”  Laurel grins, gives him a quick kiss, and leaves, heels clicking sharply on the floor of the lab.  Bruce sinks back onto his chair and pulls himself over to his computer desk, where his screensaver is bouncing the Stark Industries logo around the screen.  He sighed and moved the mouse, settling back into his work.

     Laurel stepped off of the elevator and into the living room, where Darcy was trying to get Steve and Bucky to sit still long enough to brief them on the upcoming press conference.  Darcy shoots her an exasperated look and Laurel sidles over to them, sitting down on the arm of the couch closest to Bucky.

“Help me Laurel.  They’re going to screw this up bigtime.”

“They can’t keep their hands off each other long enough to give the press statement?”  Bucky gives a wolfish grin and winks at Laurel before pulling Steve in for a heated kiss.

“Buck come on!  We need to get this done.”

“I can memorize the line she wants us to say Stevie.  It’s not that difficult.”  Darcy begins to turn red.

“Apparently it is cause you can’t even get the line right!  It’s not ‘I’m going to be happily fucking Captain America in the ass for the rest of my life’ like you keep saying!” Laurel hides a snort of laughter quickly, Bucky catches her and grins while Steve fights down his growing blush. “For god’s sake Bucky!  It’s an easy line ‘the Captain and I have made the decision to further our relationship, and are happy to announce our engagement.’  It’s not hard!”

“Oh but it is.” Steve smacks Bucky’s hand away from his waistband and lets out a weary sigh.  He turns to face Bucky and gives him a quick kiss.

“Come on Buck, the sooner she’s satisfied that you know the line, the sooner we can get out of here.”  Bucky watches Steve’s insistent blue eyes for a moment before groaning and nodding his head.

“Fine.  Steve and I have made the decision to take our relationship further, and are pleased to announce our engagement, finally.” Darcy watches him carefully, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed, before throwing her hands up in the air and sighing.

“That’s as close as you’re going to get.  Go, go get all handsy somewhere else.”

“Thank you Miss Lewis.” Steve thanks her as Bucky is pulling him up off the couch and leading him away by the strings on his sweatpants.

“Not a problem Cap.” She replies as they round the corner.  Laurel slides down to occupy Bucky’s vacated spot on the couch and watches Darcy, who is shaking her head and collecting her notes.

“We don’t pay you enough.” She comments.  Darcy laughs and sits down on the coffee table, a pile of loose papers on her lap.

“I think I’m actually the best paid public relations manager that’s ever existed.  You guys are nothing if not a pain in my ass and well aware of it.”  Laurel shrugs.

“I suppose.  We’re all still trying to adjust to the world without SHIELD, and I think that’s made us more sympathetic to the sort of things they covered up for us, and now that’s all your job.”

“From what I hear, SHIELD didn't cover up shit for you, Hydra did.”  Darcy replies quietly, as if afraid Laurel will reach over and snap her neck for it.  She only gives a small, sad smile.

“Yeah, my whole life really.  When I was six they sent me on my first kill mission.  I got the job done, but botched the cover-up.  That’s the last time I messed up anything on a mission.  They sent Winter to cover my tracks, and teach me a lesson.”  She pulls up her skirt enough to show Darcy a series of small burns on her right thigh.  “They were still working on his conditioning, hadn't entirely wiped him yet, and he still smoked cigarettes when they let him out.  He didn't know who I was, other than someone who needed to learn a lesson.  Sat me down and smoked a pack of cigarettes, putting each one out on my thigh and held a knife to my throat, daring me to complain.  Next time I saw him, he was teaching me to assemble and clean my sniper rifle and had no idea who I was, didn't recognize me at all.”

“How the hell did you live like that?”

“After a few years he started to remember that I was important, even after wipes.  He went under after one mission, and woke up for the next one looking for me.  It was only a few months between freezes, and I had been active the whole time, picking out and scoping targets for him.  His trainers sent him to kill me, but he refused.  Said he didn't know why, but he wouldn't do it.  After that, they started sending us on important missions together, trusting us to take care of each other so they didn't have to worry about losing an asset.  He’s killed a lot of people for me, and I've killed a lot of people for him, and neither of us can remember what exactly we've done.”

“That’s horrible.”  Laurel shrugs.

“I didn't know anything else until a long-term op in Germany when I was seventeen.  After that one they froze me for a few years, woke me up to take out SHIELD spies in a Hydra-dominated facility, I fucked that one up too, managed to get myself shot.  When I woke up after that they sent me into SHIELD itself, deep cover infiltration, after two years of that op, Winter showed up and everything went to hell.”

“You deserve better Laurel.  That’s inhumane and cruel what they did to you.  Bucky has a life before and after Hydra, you-”

“I’m building myself new.  I have something better now.  I’m working on it Darcy.  You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Of course not.” She stands, organizing her papers and tucking them under one arm.  “I’m ordering pizza, you want anything?”

“Garlic cheese sticks, I’ll bring movies and we’ll have a girls’ night.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs.

     Natasha is having the time of her life.  She pushes Laurel into one dressing room with an armful of dresses and pushes Bucky into another with an armful of suits.  Two doors lock and almost immediately she can hear both of them grumbling about the entire situation.  She grins and sits down on the couch in the middle of the dressing area.  A saleswoman walks over as Bucky steps out of his room, pulling uncomfortably on the collar of the shirt he’s wearing under his jacket.

“You can’t be serious Nat.” He complains.  The saleswoman gives him an appraising look and turns to address Natasha.

“Good morning, I’m Anna.  I’d be glad to help if you need anything.” Natasha looks up at the woman, mid-thirties, blonde hair, brown eyes, a shy smile, and a pastel pink nametag confirming that yes, she is ‘Anna, senior sales associate’.

“Hi Anna I’m Natasha,” she shakes her hand before pointing to Bucky, who is clearly pouting in the tight, white tuxedo.  “This is James and,” Laurel’s door opens and she steps out in a floor-length, powder blue ball gown, a pout eerily similar to Bucky’s on her face.  “This is Laurel.”

“Can I help with anything here?” Anna asks.

“Yes, tell Natasha I can dress myself and I don’t think Steve cares what I’m wearing for this.” Bucky complains.  Anna turns to Natasha, slightly confused.“Don’t listen to him.  It’s his wedding and if he had it his way he’d be walking down the aisle in his pajamas.”

“Oh, could I suggest one of our new tuxedos then?”  Natasha shakes her head.

“I’m going to have fun dressing him for a bit.  Do you have anything in a pale pink?”  Bucky’s pout turns into a look of disbelief and Laurel retreats into the dressing room before it can get any messier.

O.O

“You two look so ready for the junior prom.” Natasha chokes out between bouts of laughter.  Bucky is wearing a mismatched, ill-fitting suit in a dark blue, and Laurel is wearing a long strapless dress in a sheer pink material with orange roses sewn on in seemingly random places.  Natasha snaps a picture with her phone and next to her, Anna is trying to keep a straight face.

“Nat come on.  Can we get serious about this now?” Laurel complains.

“Are you saying I’m not being serious about this?” Natasha asks, sounding appalled.

“You damn well aren’t.  Steve and Bruce are probably already done shopping by now.”  Bucky complains.  Natasha lets out a sharp snort of laughter and shakes her head.

“They took Sam, Clint, and Tony with them.  You’re crazy if you think they’re even close to being done.  Bruce will wear whatever the other groomsmen wear, Steve is just going to look for something clean cut that he thinks you’ll like, Sam will try to fix whatever Clint picks out, and Tony won’t settle for anything less than a personally, professionally, tailored tuxedo.  This is going to take them all day, at least.”  Bucky deflates, a worried look growing on his face, and he retreats into the dressing room.  Laurel stares at Natasha for a while longer.

“Could you get me a pretzel then?  It’s been hours and I need food.”

“Me too!  Super soldiers need food!” Bucky shouts from his dressing room.  Natasha sighs and stands up as Laurel closes the door to her dressing room behind her.

“Fine!  Food for the whiny assassins.”

“Thanks Nat!” Two voices shout.

“Would you like me to find them some more fitting choices?” Anna asks, clearly trying not to ask what Natasha meant by ‘whiny assassins’.  She nods.

“Yeah, if they’re this cranky now, it’s probably best to just find something that actually works.  I’d hate to let them loose on the public when they’re really grumpy.”

“We heard that!” Bucky shouts.

“Good!” Natasha replies.  She slips out into the main section of the mall and heads for the food court as Anna walks through the store, picking out dresses and tuxedos for Laurel and Bucky to try on.  She knocks on Bucky’s door and hands him a stack of tuxedos, shirts, and bowties.  He thanks her and closes the door.  Laurel opens her door to take the dresses and pauses.

“These are wedding dresses.”

“Yes.” Anna replies.

“I’m not getting married.” Laurel continues.“Oh!  My

apologies!  I just assumed that-”

“No it’s okay, really.  I’m the maid of honor, he’s the groom.  The other groom is on the other side of town with the groomsmen.”

“I am so sorry, I’ll get you some bridesmaid dresses then.”

“Thank you.”  While Laurel is waiting, Bucky steps out in a perfect black tuxedo.  He’s wearing a blue shirt underneath and a perfectly tied black bowtie.  He holds up his arms, grinning and turns in a slow circle.

“What do you think?”

“I think Steve’s going to enjoy pulling that off you.” Bucky smiles widely.

“That’s the point.” Natasha walks back in with a bag of soft pretzels in one hand and a lemonade in the other.  “Check out my ass in this one!” Bucky exclaims, turning around for Natasha.  She nods appreciatively.

“I think you’ve found the one.”  Anna comes back with a small stack of bridesmaid dresses and hands them to Laurel.  She slips back into the dressing room while Bucky struts around the dressing area.  She comes out a few minutes later in a red dress with a high neckline and no sleeves, a tight silver ribbon around the waist, and a loose skirt that falls just above the knees.

“Well?”

“Well I think Darcy, Pepper, and I are going to look just as killer in that dress.”  Bucky and Laurel poke fun at each other for being ‘all dressed up’ while Natasha finds the same dress in her size, Pepper’s size, and Darcy’s, and then pushes them into the changing rooms so they can check out.

O.O

     Steve got used to the public eye with the USO and his films, but Bucky is still adjusting to the idea of being in the public eye while Steve is getting a better grasp on the range of 21st century reporters.  Steve has a few lines to remember, and Bucky just has the one, but he’s worried anyway.  Bucky’s spent the last few hours repeating the line to himself, as if afraid he’s going to forget it, and Steve is starting to worry that he has.  Darcy’s gotten into the habit of sending Steve and Bucky to run the weekly press briefings, giving the press the opportunity to ask their questions about Steve and Bucky without having to devote an entire briefing to it again.  Steve’s finished going over the weekly agenda, and it’s Bucky’s turn to make the announcement.

“Before we finish this week’s briefing, Captain Rogers and I have an announcement.  About two months ago we announced that our relationship was of a romantic nature, and had been for several months.  Well, today Steve and I would like to announce that we are making our relationship more serious, and would like to share with you the news of our engagement and upcoming wedding.”  The press begins to shout questions, and Steve quiets them with a hand.

“Our press manager, Miss Lewis, will be taking questions on the weeks’ briefing, but Sergeant Barnes and I will be leaving for the weekend.”

“Where are you going?”  Outside the press room, Darcy is watching the briefing on the tv and holds her breath, hoping Steve will answer the question with a ‘no comment’.  She’s not so lucky.

“To fuck somewhere warmer.”  Bucky smiles widely at Steve’s response, and Steve begins to flush red, obviously not expecting that answer to have been out loud.  Darcy curses, walks into the press room, and ushers Steve and Bucky into the hall before taking the podium herself.

O.O

     Laurel emerges from the bathroom and makes her way to the kitchen table.  Tony grins at her over the top of his coffee mug.

“Tell me again what a baby Barnes assassin looks like?” He asks before taking a sip of his coffee.  Laurel looks at him questioningly, head cocked to one side as she sits down.

“Again, how am I supposed to know the answer to that?”

“Give it seven months, you’ll know.” All eyes snap to Tony, who shrugs.  “What?”

“Why would I have an answer to that in seven months?”

“Because Jarvis has picked up signs of another life in the tower and apparently it’s your fault.”  Laurel drops her coffee mug and it shatters against the floor, hot coffee splashing everywhere.  Bruce excused himself quickly, and they could hear him hulking out halfway down the hallway.

“What’s gotten into him?” Clint asks offhandedly.  Laurel is frozen in place still, staring directly at Tony.  Natasha lays a careful hand on Laurel’s shoulder and she jumps, jolting back to reality.

“Tony are you telling me that Jarvis thinks I’m pregnant?”  Tony nods.

“Well he doesn’t think you are.  Jarvis knows it Laurel.  He continuously monitors the vital signs of everyone in the house, and he informed me the other day that there was an unknown set of vitals in the tower, and when I asked him to look into it, it turns out it was coming from you.”

“I’m not pregnant.” Natasha wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls Laurel against her side.

“Lou, I think you are.”

“That’s not possible.  I’m not pregnant Natasha.”

“Laurel, come on, we’ll get you a pregnancy test, and then we’ll go check on Bruce okay?”  Laurel nods and lets Natasha lead her away.  Clint turns to Tony.

“If she’s pregnant, whose kid is it?”  Tony sets his mug down and leans forward on the table, face screwed up in concentration.

“I’ve got no idea.  Bruce?  I mean I wouldn’t think so, but he hulked out when he found out, so maybe?”  Clint nods slowly.

“I mean, I wouldn’t have thought Bruce and Laurel would hook up, but it does kind of make sense.  They’ve been acting weird for the last few months.”

O.O

     Laurel sits on one of the lab tables and waits for Bruce to calm down.  He’s lying on the floor, breathing slowly and deeply, still a little green around the edges but working on it.  Laurel has her face buried in her hands, a positive pregnancy test sticking out from between two fingers.  Bruce shifts his gaze from a blank spot on the ceiling to Laurel’s feet dangling off the table.  He takes another deep breath.

“Are we going to be parents?” He asks in a quiet, calm voice.  Laurel lifts her head just enough to look over at him.

“We don’t have to be Bruce.”  He shakes his head slowly against the cold floor.

“I always wanted a family, but if you’re not ready for that then I can completely understand.” Laurel nods in acknowledgement and drops her face back into her hands.  Bruce stands up slowly and walks over to her, taking the pregnancy test from her with careful fingers.  He stares at it for a long moment.

“They don’t know it’s yours.  They probably suspect after you, you know.” Bruce nods and takes one of Laurel’s hands gently away from her face.

“If you want this baby, I’ll be here with you for all of it.  I’m not going to abandon you Laurel.”  He kisses her gently.  “If you want to do this, then we’re going to do this.”

O.O

“So whose kid is it?” Tony asks with a grin.  Laurel shakes her head, eyes locked with Tony’s, arms crossed over her chest.

“You’ve been asking me that for two months now Tony.  The answer hasn’t changed.”  Tony leans back on the couch and fixes Laurel with a calculating stare.

“It’s not Clint, he’s married to Natasha.  Definitely not me.  Shouldn’t be Steve’s, he’s got Bucky and you haven’t slept with Steve in over a year.  Not Sam’s, I don’t think.” He raises an eyebrow to Laurel and she purses her lips, keeping her gaze even.  “It’s Bruce’s kid, isn’t it?  I bet it is.”  Laurel keeps her face passive as Tony continues to mumble.  “You’re gonna tell us some day.” Tony concludes with a scowl.

“I’ll tell you when I decide you need to know.”  She sits down on the couch next to him and rests her feet in his lap.  “If you’re so eager to find out whose kid it is, why don’t you do me a favor and give me a foot rub instead?”  She grins over at Tony and he rolls his eyes, picking up one of Laurel’s feet with a heavy sigh.

     Bucky walks into the living room and glances over at Tony and Laurel.  Laurel is asleep on the couch with her legs draped over Tony’s lap and Tony is watching tv with the volume turned down.  Bucky leans on the back of the couch and addresses Tony.

“She talk you into giving her a foot rub?”  Tony nods.

“Still won’t tell me whose kid it is.”  Bucky shrugs.

“She’s not about to either.  Just leave her be Tony.”

“Have you guys set a date for the wedding yet?”  Bucky shrugs.

“Steve was thinking sometime in the spring, so a couple months maybe?  We’ve got to actually start planning it soon either way.”

“I promise Pepper will be a huge help with that.  She won’t admit it to your face, but she loves that sort of stuff.  I’m fairly certain she has our wedding completely planned out and is just waiting for me to actually propose.”  Laurel shifts on the couch and turns her face to bury it in the couch cushions, one arm curled around her stomach.

“This whole tower is a mess.” Bucky comments with a light sigh.  Tony nods.

“We certainly have more than our fair share of assassins, anger management issues, men out of time, and assassins with anger issues out of time.” Tony gives Bucky a half-grin as he says it.  Bucky shrugs.

“We’ll get by just fine.” Bucky answers.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs  
> I think this is a good place to wrap it up, so this is the last chapter! I'm working on a short epilogue that will be set a few years down the line as well!

     Steve waits at the altar.  He’s surrounded by his friends, and Bucky is walking down the aisle in a suit, one arm linked with Laurel’s arm.  He’s spent the last few weeks listening to Bucky complain and Laurel laugh at the notion of Laurel giving Bucky away at his wedding.  In the end, Bucky gave in and Laurel stopped laughing and Laurel walks her dad down the aisle.

“We are gathered here today, to join in union Captain Steven Grant Rogers and Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.”

“Fucking outranks me like crazy.” Bucky mutters under his breath.  Steve grins and shoots him a warning look, to which he smirks.

“Have you prepared your vows?”

“Of course.” Steve replies.  Bucky rolls his eyes fondly and Steve shoots him a look before continuing.  “Bucky, on the day we met, way back in the nineteen-thirties,” the wedding guests snicker at that, “I was getting the shit beat out of me in an alleyway behind the school.  You beat up the guy beating me up, and we’ve been stuck together ever since.  Ever since that day, you’ve fought off anyone who even looked at me wrong, you’ve protected me, you’ve helped me to get better, and you, you are everything I’ve ever wanted.  So I’m happy to say that after today, there’s nothing else in the world for me, cause I’m with you till the end of the line.”

“That was stupidly poetic you punk.” Bucky replies.  The guests laugh, and Steve gives him a wide smile.“

Jerk.  Come on, tell everyone how much you love me.”  Bucky shifts on his feet, rolling his eyes and running one hand through his gelled hair.

“Fine.  You’re a punk, but I really do love you, and I’m glad that when we woke up, we woke up in a time that lets us do this together, for real.  You said that I’m all you’ve ever wanted, and honestly I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you, scrawny kid getting beat up in an alley in Brooklyn.  So, let’s do this thing for real, forever, let’s get hitched Stevie, to the end of the line.”

“By the power invested in me, by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and husband.  You may kiss the groom.” Steve grabs Bucky and Bucky grabs Steve and they’re kissing in front of their friends, their family, and the world.

O.O

“A toast.” Natasha announces, standing up with a glass in her hand.  The room quiets for her.  “When I met Bucky, he was utterly lost and in need of a friend, and when I met Steve, he was sunken in the past and had no idea where to go.  Somehow, these two idiots found each other, and suddenly didn’t need anything else, and were more than prepared to face the future.  To our favorite super soldier husbands, to Steve and Bucky!”

“To Steve and Bucky!” The room echoes.  Laurel stands up slowly, struggling to balance.  She rests a hand on her large stomach and raises a glass of sparkling cider.

“As one of the best men, and as Bucky’s daughter, I just wanted to say a few words about the biggest, stupidest, most amazing dads anyone could ask for.  I saw Bucky once in a while growing up, our unique situations kept secret the knowledge that he was my father, but that bond was always there, hiding beneath layers and layers of hypnotic lies.  When I finally met him for real, almost two years ago, he trusted me to take him to Steve, the one person he knew in the very fabric of his soul to be unceasingly trusting and loving.  Now when I met Steve, he was looking for Bucky and saw me as a tool for finding him.  Luckily we found Bucky, and they decided I was worth keeping around.” The audience laughs nervously and Laurel turns to address Steve and Bucky directly.  “Now I know I’m in my twenties, I know I’m grown up and have well, a little bit, of my life figured out, but every day you two push me towards making more of my life, and towards finding more of who I am, and really doing nothing but helping me better myself.  So I wanted to thank you for that, for being the best sort of “better late than never” dads, and the best role models a girl could dream of.  To Steve and Bucky.”

“To Steve and Bucky.”  Clint stands up for the next toast.

“Steve I knew only as a facet of legend, and as the object of historical and super hero obsession of a very close friend.  When I finally met him, he didn't live up to the expectations of the Captain America legend in the very best of ways.  I came to know the man behind the suit, and I respect him a little more every day for it.  Now when I met Bucky, we sort of tried to kill each other, but I’m glad we've gotten over that now, cause it would make life a little more difficult if I was always dodging bullets from my friends’ new husband.  Together, you two dumbasses are going to make either the best, or the stupidest couple on the whole planet, and I think everyone in this room knows which of those it’ll be.  To Bucky and Steve.”

“To Bucky and Steve.”  Tony stands before anyone can stop him.  He fixes the room with a genuine smile.

“I wouldn't have thought Steve had it in him, to be such a contradiction to the legends, but I think I can safely say that that’s a good thing, maybe even a great thing.  People rarely live up to their expectations, but somehow Steve surpassed his.  Bucky, don’t even get me started on Bucky.  History leaves out some of the most interesting things about this man.  Like how if you take too long in the shower he’ll replace your shampoo with Nair the next morning.  Or how if you say a word against his family you won’t be standing for long.  Fiercely protective this one.  When we take Steve, loyal to a fault and pretty rash about it, and Bucky, protective with his every breath and not shy about it, well then we find ourselves with a dangerous, perfect, wonderful blend, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we can’t wait to see what this power couple does with their new lives together.  To the boys!”

“The boys!”

     Bucky pulls Steve in for a kiss, unable to hide the smile on his face, and Natasha and Clint let out loud cheers.  Tony shouts for the DJ and the music starts; he pulls Pepper out of her seat and onto the dance floor, and Clint and Natasha follow.  Sam grabs Bruce from Laurel and starts to dance, and Bucky and Steve drag each other to the dance floor.  Dancing with Steve, finally, surrounded by new friends and a family he never knew he had, Bucky is at peace, balance is restored, and all his years of waiting have come to an end.


	20. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing (as per usual) aside from the plot and my OCs.  
> Finally finished! Thanks for reading guys! I had so much fun writing this, and I hope you enjoyed reading it!

     Bucky grabs the five year old boy who goes running by, wild black curls flying around his head as he laughs and squirms in Bucky’s arms.  Bucky smiles widely and kisses the boy all over the face, making him laugh and smile and shout at him.

“Opa stop!  Opa!  Opa!” Bucky gives him a big kiss on the forehead and puts him down, ruffling his curls with his metal arm before the boy goes running off.  He hears a surprised shout down the hall as the boy screams for his father to catch him.  Bruce walks into the room a moment later with the boy hanging off his back with a wide grin on his face

.“Have you seen Laurel?  She needs to take this little booger to the park.”

“I’m not a little booger Vati!” The boy protests.  Bucky grins and Bruce laughs.

“You’re right Remus, you’re a big booger.”  Remus stares at Bucky in disbelief, as if he can’t believe his dad would say something like that, and Bucky only laughs at the betrayed expression on the five-year-old’s face.

“Steve and I will take him, we promised Emma we would take her anyway.”  Remus jumps down from Bruce’s back and runs over to Bucky, clinging to his leg.  Bruce nods in thanks and retreats to his lab.  Bucky grins down at Remus and walks slowly to the apartment he shares with Steve in the Tower.  Remus giggles and clings to Bucky’s leg, letting himself be dragged along.

     Steve is sitting in his bed with Emma, who is sitting perfectly still in front of him as he braids her light brown waves into a long fishtail braid.  He looks up when Bucky walks in with Remus.  Emma waits patiently for Steve to tie off the end of her braid and then jumps off the bed to run over to Bucky.

“Pa!  Pa!  Dad did my hair!” She spins around to show off her braid.  “Isn’t it wonderful?”

“It’s perfect sweetie.”  He picks her up and settles her on his hip, while Remus detaches himself from Bucky’s leg to run over to Steve.

“Opa said you guys are taking me and Emma to the park?”

“Yeah if you want to come with us.” Steve tells him.  Remus nods quickly and Steve climbs off the bed and picks him up.  “Where’s your mom today bud?” Remus shrugs.

“Vati was looking for her too.  He called me a booger.”

O.O

     Laurel is where everyone expects her to be, in the range with Natasha.  Clint is sitting off to the side with their four month old daughter and trying to get her excited about the shoot-off between the two of them.  She stares at Natasha’s bright red hair and gurgles happily, and Clint takes it as a sign that she’s cheering for her.

“Baby’s cheering you on momma!”  Natasha squeezes the trigger and hits a moving target in the center of its bull’s eye.

“You don’t call me that Barton.  Anya does, but she doesn’t talk yet.”  Laurel takes the next shot, her bullet passing through the hole Natasha’s bullet had ripped in the target.

“How did we end up naming our kids Anastasia and Remus while Steve and Bucky named their daughter Emma?”

“They’re less ambitious.” Natasha replies with a small grin, taking two shots in quick succession and ripping through the middle of a target swinging through her sight.  Laurel quickly shoots down a target that jumps down towards them.  Clint cheers loudly off to the side and Anya lets out a high-pitched giggle.  The door opens and Emma and Remus come tearing into the room, shouting loudly and tripping over each other.  Natasha and Laurel quickly holster their pistols as Steve and Bucky walk into the range behind the screaming kids.

“Bruce said you were supposed to take Remus to the park?”  Laurel gives Bucky a sheepish grin.

“Nat thought we might be out of practice, so Clint suggested we come down and see.”

“And naturally you guys decided Anya might like that too?” Steve asks.  Clint shrugs.

“It’s never too early to make sure she’s an excellent shot.” He defends himself.

“The great great granddaughter of Tsar Nicholas needs to be able to dismantle an entire empire in an afternoon.  She ought to start now.”  Laurel turns to her quickly.

“You can’t be serious.”  Natasha shrugs.

“You think a Soviet child assassin with the name of Romanova, hidden away and used by a secret corner of the government has no relation to the missing Romanov?”

“I asked you about this like ten years ago Tasha, you laughed at me!” Clint accuses.

“Cause you’re a conspiracy nut.  You were convinced that the Russians had found the lost princess and hidden her away, married her off, and trained her children and grandchildren as assassins.”

“That’s exactly what they did though!” Clint shouts at her.  Natasha shrugs lazily and picks Anya out of his arms, carrying her up to the kitchen for lunch.  Laurel sighs and grabs Remus as he runs by.

“Mutti!  Opa and Granpapa took me and Em to the park!”

“That’s wonderful sweetie!” Laurel spins the little boy around in her arms, a smile on her face as he laughs loudly.

“I still don’t understand why I have to be Granpapa.” Steve complains.  Bucky grins and gives him a quick kiss, to which Emma makes a face.

“Because I’m Opa.” He replies with a cheeky grin.  Steve shoves him playfully and Bucky turns to steal a kiss and Remus and Emma turn to each other to make faces.

“You two are gross.” Emma comments.  Remus shakes his head.

“Mutti and Vati are worse.”

“Nu-uh.” Emma argues, shaking her head as Bucky carries her up the stairs.

“My Vati turns green sometimes when he’s mad!” Remus shouts at her.  Laurel turns to Remus.

“Sweetheart, Vati doesn’t like it when we talk about that.”  Remus ducks his head in his mother’s shoulder.

“Sorry Mutti.”

“Dad did my hair this morning!  And Pa let me do his yesterday!”  Steve grins, remembering the pigtails and spotted bows that Emma had put in Bucky’s hair the day before.

     Natasha is sitting at the kitchen table with Anastasia on her lap, making faces at her as she gives her a bottle.  Remus climbed onto the chair next to Natasha as Laurel started to make sandwiches, and Steve sat down next to Remus, with Emma climbing up onto his lap.  Bucky joined Laurel in the kitchen to make sandwiches as Clint and Bruce walked in, laughing together.  Bruce slipped into the kitchen to give Laurel a quick kiss before stealing a sandwich and ruffling Remus’ hair and heading back to the lab where Tony was waiting.

“I think we did rather well for ourselves.” Bucky teases Laurel as soon as Bruce is out of earshot.  She grins and hands him a plate of sandwiches, looking towards Steve with a teasing grin on her face.

“I think you did very well for yourself Vanya.”  He gives her a one-armed hug and pushes her out into the dining room with another plate of sandwiches.

“We certainly got what we needed Lou.”

O.O

     It’s been twelve years, and Remus shouts as the paintball hits him in the shoulder, and Anastasia grins from her vantage point and reloads her paintball gun.  A blossom of pink paint erupts on Anastasia’s chest and she scowls across the way at where Emma is disappearing behind a crumbling wall.  Three orange paint-balls burst against Remus’ arm and he looks down at the color.

“Mom!  That’s not fair!  You were trained in Soviet Russia!” He shouts to nowhere in particular. 

     Laurel, from where she’s laying completely still on the floor in black stealth gear grins and shoots another paintball at her son.  It splatters across his goggles and he scowls, taking shelter in a deserted shack on the edge of the paintball course Tony had built across two levels of the tower.  Laurel stands up and sprints across the course, making for one of the other shelters.  A storm of paint-balls come raining down, and she curses something about ‘fucking family of snipers’ as she ducks and rolls across the course.  A bright blue spot appears on her chest and she stops.

“NATASHA!”  Natasha grins and takes another shot.  Laurel ducks the shot and shoots back, but Natasha is too fast.  A stream of purple shots come down from directly above and Natasha shoots at the culprit.

“Natasha we’re a team!” Clint complains from the net hanging from the ceiling.

“Not in paintball darling!” She shouts with a grin. A bright yellow shot smashes against the back of Clint’s head and he hides away quickly, picking up some of the paint on his fingers and looking at it.

“Anya not you too!  Your mothers’ daughter without a doubt.” He shouts, his voice heavy with mocking betrayal.  Anastasia sees the small thumbs-up from her mother and slips back into her shelter.

     Laurel takes advantage of the momentary distraction to run the few meters to the shelter, and jumps inside.  She runs into something soft and looks up to see Bucky, black war paint smeared across his eyes and a wary scowl set on his face.  They stare at each other warily for a moment, before Bucky nods and Laurel ducks behind him as he starts shooting out of the door.  Steve appears in time to be hit in the chest by a spray of silver paint-balls, and Bucky quickly stops shooting to laugh.  Steve scowls and hits him with a bright red paintball and Bucky stops laughing.  Laurel pops out from behind him and shoots Steve a few times with orange paint-balls before running through the shelter and jumping out the back window just as Steve runs into the shelter to shoot her.  He stops when he loses sight of her on the course and slumps against the wall.

“You’re both awful.” Steve comments with a fond grin.  Bucky grins at the silver paint on Steve’s chest, the orange on his legs, and the blue on the back of his neck and in his hair.

“For a supersoldier, you sure make an easy target.”  Steve scoffs.

“Yeah, for three Soviet assassins maybe.”  Bucky shrugs, conceding the point. 

“I haven’t seen Tony or Bruce yet.  Where do you think they are?”

      Bucky is suddenly on high alert, pressed against the door frame and sneaking peaks out into the dark course.  He catches sight of Remus, painted with bright orange, sprinting across the course on Emma’s heels and taking the occasional shot, which she jumps and rolls and ducks to avoid.  Bucky shoots off a few pellets and hits Remus in the chest, leg, and goggles, before ducking back into the shelter with Steve.

“I haven’t seen them.  They built this course though, they've probably got a hidden shelter somewhere.” Steve raises an eyebrow at him, leaning in.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”  Bucky pulls him in for a kiss.

“That we have sex on the paintball course instead of hunting down our family and attacking them?” Bucky asks with a smile, kissing Steve again.  Steve kisses him back, grinning.

“Well now I’m thinking about that.” He kisses Bucky again.  “But no, I was thinking we go find them and paint them silver and red.”  Bucky kisses Steve again, and then pulls him out the door with a smile, one hand tangled with Steve’s, and the other holding his gun at the ready.

“Let’s go.”


End file.
